Chapter 3
Gwendal notices a major different between New Makoku and this world. No horses. "Heika, where are all the horses or carriages?"
Yuuri seems a bit startled by the voice beside him. "Oh, um, in this world, we use cars. They're more powerful and go faster, much more efficient in my opinion. We'll probably see a car pretty soon because we're going to cross an intersection at the end of the street."
Gwendal's eyes remain trained on the shorter man, observing his mannerisms; at least until Yuuri pulls him out of the way of a light pole. "Whoa, you almost hit that pole. You've got to pay more attention to where you're going. If you keep walking like that, you might have been hit by a car." Yuuri looks curiously at the older man. "What were you doing? You're usually very attentive."
Gwendal frowns at being griped at by the younger man, but he still answers the question. "I was thinking."
"Oh." They continue walking down the sidewalk until they reach the intersection.
Beep Beep A car goes driving by at an alarming rate.
"That was a car. See what I was telling you about paying attention? If you had walked in front of that car, you would have been severely injured or maybe even dead."
Gwendal looks in the direction of which the car went in shock.
"This world is a bit technologically more advanced than yours now, but even then we went through a period where horses and carriages were the main mode of transportation."
"I see." They walk together in silence down the street, passing a convenient store and a laundry mat. Gwendal looks but doesn't ask questions. Their journey takes them a few more minutes as they pass a playground and a couple of people.
Upon arriving at the ballpark, Yuuri hears someone shout his name, that someone being Murata.
"Yuuri! I'm glad you could make it", Murata runs up to him. "I didn't know if your mother was going to remember to give you the message. I see you brought Gwendal with you today." Murata bows to the other man.
Gwendal bows to the young manager, "Your highness."
Murata waves his hands in front of him. "We aren't kings and sages here. No need to be formal."
"I've told him that already. I guess old habits are hard to break", Yuuri chuckles. "Hey, Murata, I thought you were going to talk to the Original King?"
"I am; I just decided that since your were back, we could have baseball practice."
"Ok?"
"Anyways, practice is about to begin. Go ahead and get your cleats on and suited up. Today I want to focus on Tatsumi's pitching today."
"Hai."
"And Gwendal, you can sit on the bleachers and watch our star catcher." Murata points the bleachers beside the dugout as Gwendal nods. "Well, I'm going to tell Tatsumi to get warmed up." Ken walks back to the dugout without any more words. Yuuri heads to the bleachers, sitting as he changes into his cleats.
"Are you going to be alright sitting here by yourself? Practice shouldn't be too long today."
Gwendal bows his head and folds his arms adamantly across his chest. "I'll be fine."
"Good! I'm off." Yuuri pulls catcher's mitt out and leaves his bag beside the scowling man. The last thing he hears before entering the dugout is the tall military strategist mumbling something like "...treating me like a child..." Yuuri simply sniggers under his breath and starts putting on his catcher's garb.
Gwendal watches the other players warm up by tossing balls back and forth to each other while a few swing their bat.
Tweet Tweet
Gwendal jumps at the sound of the whistle but quickly recovers; when he gets his bearings again, he sees all the players lining up on the first base line. All the players are out of the dugout, but he can't find Yuuri anywhere in the line-up.
"OK! Gentlemen, you're going to do sprints. Go at the sound of my whistle. Remember, you must touch the line when you comeback." Tweet The men run a little ways and comeback. Tweet The men run a little farther and comeback. And so on...
While sprints are being run, Gwendal is inwardly having a small heart attack, as he still has yet to find Yuuri amongst his peers. Outwardly, he looks plain bored.
"YUURI! You've got to move faster. We depend on you to be fast. Now move it!" Murata yells at the person with the shin guards, chest guard, and backwards cap on.
'That's Yuuri? That hat of sorts changes his appearance significantly; I didn't recognize him.'
Tweet "Good hustle men. Now I want everyone to break into pairs and practice throwing from your position to your partner's position. Yuuri and Tatsumi, please come with me." Murata motions for the pitcher and catcher to go to their respective positions at home plate and the pitcher's mound.
"Alright, Tatsumi, I can see you have great potential, but you need to be in more control of the ball and more consistent with your aim. Getting those two things down, I think you would be completely unbeatable."
"Really?"
Yuuri chimes in enthusiastically. "We depend on you to keep our opponents from hitting the ball and getting onto base. If we can't trust you to do your part, we won't be able to take up your slack. We have too much to worry about already. But I know that you are a team player and when you do pitch is almost perfect. Let's work on what's not perfect and win all our games."
"Hai!"
"Now Yuuri I want you to..."
Gwendal watches the three men discuss their practice strategy. After a few minutes, Yuuri walks to home plate and Murata stands behind Yuuri as umpire. "All right, Tatsumi, choose your pitches wisely."
It was then that Gwendal notices how close Murata is as he squats behind Yuuri as Yuuri pulls down his face mask. It's a bit too close for comfort for Gwendal, but he seems to not be able to take his eyes off of the gap. That is until Yuuri slips his right hand between his legs.
'What are they doing that requires such lewd behavior in public?' He asks himself.
Yuuri holds up his glove and the ball goes flying into it at an alarming rate.
"STRIKE! Good pitch. Try a different one."
Yuuri's hand slips between his legs again, but this time, Gwendal watches both Yuuri and Tatsumi. That's when he notices the minute nod of Tatsumi's head, signaling he's chosen his next pitch.
'How discreet...I wouldn't have ever known."
Yuuri, once again, holds up his glove; this time the ball is a bit high, but just as the ball is about to reach Yuuri's glove, it drops down significantly. Yuuri catches it with no problem.
"Great sinker! That would have been a strike to remember. Good job!"
The routine of pitching continues for a little while longer. Blowing his whistle again, Murata shouts that it's time for a scrimmage; he proceeds to split the team into two smaller divisions. The division Yuuri isn't in, goes and puts on blue mesh jerseys.
Gwendal watches with interest as Yuuri's team takes their positions on the field, with Yuuri, of course, as catcher. The pitcher, Tatsumi throws a few warm up pitches as the batter stands just outside of the batter's box, warming up.
"Alright ladies, let's see what you can do!" Murata yells pulling his face mask down. Yuuri crouches as the batter steps up to the plate; Murata leans in close and whispers something into Yuuri's ear which causes the young Maou to look over to Gwendal. Taking a step back, Murata shouts "PLAY BALL!"
Behind the tall man, a small group of young women walk past the ballpark. "Oh look." "Cute baseball players!" "Hmm! They look so strong." "Let me tell you, they can sure wear those pants." "They do accentuate their round rears quite nicely." They giggle as they walk out of earshot of Gwendal.
'Their pants accentuate their...OH!' Gwendal watches the women as they grow smaller to his vision. He snaps his head back to the practice game as he hears "STRIKE!" come from Murata's mouth. He tries to watch the game but he finds his eyes wondering Yuuri's form.
Every time the eighteen year-old stands up to the throw the ball, time stops for Gwendal. The young catcher moves gracefully, movements in a wave that start at his feet and end with his wrist as he releases the ball. Gwendal watches as Yuuri throws another ball back to the pitcher, admiring how his toned muscles contract with each move.
"Ok, all bases loaded, stay sharp", Yuuri yells from behind home plate. He punches his gloved palm, pumping himself up for the next batter.
'How long was I thinking about Yuuri? The last I saw, there was only one person on base." Gwendal scowls in confusion for a moment, but when the batter hits the ball to centerfield, his attention goes to Yuuri, who just stepped onto the plate, throwing his mask off.
The centerfielder dives for the ball, but manages to catch it on the bounce. With all his effort he lobs the ball to home plate, where Yuuri is waiting. The player on third base takes off running to home. As if in slow motion, Yuuri catches the ball as the player approaches; in one swift motion, he takes a step towards the runner, dropping to his knees, glove out on in front of him, and tags the runner as he slides into home.
"OUT!"
"Yeah! That's the way Yuuri", One of his teammate's shouts. Standing up, he holds out his hand, offering it to the ousted runner. The runner takes his hand and stands up with the help of Yuuri.
"That was incredible. I thought I was home, but then you came out of no where and put me out. I glad we're on the same team or my team would be in trouble."
"Ah, it was just luck, I guess. You're fast. Good job though!" Yuuri pats his teammate on the back, knocking dirt into a little cloud.
Gwendal watches as Yuuri has a slight coughing fit within the cloud. He begins to reminisce of three years ago when he first met Yuuri.
Three years ago when he first met his new king, he thought 'this kid can't do anything for New Makoku'. He was a loud-mouthed, scrawny teen who didn't seem to want to be king. He never understood why Gunter would poetically fawn over the boy, or why Conrad trusted him so much. He could actually see why Wolfram would call him a wimp. But when he and Yuuri were chained together and they spoke of using the people's taxes for good rather than an extravagant kingship, Gwendal felt his heart stumble. A king who is fair to the people in all aspects was a completely new concept for him. 'He really is different.' It was then, when the first of box destroyed Caloria and he aided the people in rebuilding the town, did Gwendal realize that Yuuri was not a wimp, but an unprejudiced, caring, loving person. Over the next three years, Gwendal saw this young Maou change the face of the country into that of peace; humans and Mazokus living next door in the same town. People trust him with their lives; Gwendal trusts him with his life.
During those same three years, Gwendal found himself watching Yuuri, watching him change people's lives. But it as much as he's seen Yuuri in the other world, he has never seen the real Yuuri, the Yuuri that lives what used to be his normal life.
"OUT!"
"Good job Tatsumi! One more out and we win!" Yuuri yells from behind the plate.
Gwendal is drawn out of his thoughts by the yell; he turns his attention to Yuuri, who is covered in dirt, almost from head to toe. He begins dusting himself off, creating a little haze of dust; he shakes out his hair and wipes his shoulder and chest. Twisting his body, he looks over his shoulder and down at his backside; he dusts his rear, leaving only a slight stain of orange dirt.
Gwendal leisurely stares at the young man's rear, taking it the stain, the plumpness, the round shape. Yuuri looks back to check on Gwendal, but he find that Gwendal isn't looking back where he thought he would be. He follows the path to where the tall man's gaze is lingering. He smirks to himself when blue eyes meet midnight black; he sees Gwendal blush for a moment before lowering his eyes in a scowl.
'So there's something to Gwendal nobody knows about.' Yuuri knots his eyebrows together. Turning back to the game, Yuuri throws the ball back to the pitcher, signaling the continuation.
'What...happened? Did I just get caught staring at Yuuri's bottom? Those women were right though; those pants do accentuate the shape of the-'
"COME ON, COME ON!" Gwendal snaps his head up as he sees Yuuri scrambling for the ball that someone just bunted. Yuuri picks up the ball, and with more sharpness than Gwendal had seen from the Maou, Yuuri throws the ball to second base, outing the person running there from first base; then the second baseman throws the ball to first base, outing the batter.
"Out! And game over! Bring it in, guys", Murata hollers to the team. All the men gather around the pitcher's mound, Yuuri lingers back from the crowd, staring at his glove.
"Yuuri! Hurry up and get over here!"
"Oh...Sorry." Joining the group, Yuuri takes a quick glance over to Gwendal; he has never seen Gwendal look even remotely relaxed as he did at that quick glance. Gwendal has his feet propped up on the stadium bench in front of him, elbows resting on his knees; even his face has relaxed into an almost serene look.
Yuuri finds himself staring at the usually stoic man with wonderment at what he could be thinking at the moment. Not wanting to be a hindrance any longer, Yuuri pulls his gaze from older man and begins paying attention to whatever Murata is saying.
Gwendal turns his head, catching Yuuri turning his head away from him.
'He was looking at me; I felt his gaze the entire time. What was he thinking when he was looking at me?'
"1...2...3...SHARKS IN THE PARK!" The huddle breaks apart, players walking into the dugout and gathering their stuff. Yuuri and Murata chat as they walk into the dugout.
"Yeah, we've got a lot of work to do before the last game in two weeks; it's the championship of our league. The winner gets a cash prize."
"That's pretty cool. Hopefully I'll be here for it." Yuuri unbuckles straps on the shin guards, setting them beside him on the bench. Looking around cautiously, Yuuri leans in close to Murata. "I don't know what to do with Gwendal. If I knew the mission this wouldn't be an issue, but I don't know what the Original King wants me to do. This world is big and being vague isn't going to help me."
Murata bites his bottom lip, as if he's having an inner conflict. "The last time I talked to the king, he was vague about his intentions. He said one thing to me, almost like a hint. 'Knowing his future may have an adverse effect on what he does now.'"
"Wow, that said so much, yet very little." Yuuri deadpans.
"It seems that way, but I've been thinking about it. The king knows of your future and goals, and he tries to help in you, his own way, achieve those goals so that your future or rather destiny isn't disturbed."
"So if I knew the ultimate purpose for Gwendal being here, it may change my destiny?" Yuuri pulls the chest guard over his head, shaking the dirt out his hair.
"Basically, yes."
"...Ok. That makes me worry a little bit, but I will do what I can."
"That's the spirit. Let whatever you find out be a surprise."
Yuuri levels a glare at Murata. "Sure, whatever."
"Well Shibuya, I must be going; I've got to talk to Ulrike about a few things. See you in a week." Murata waves to Yuuri as he walks away. Yuuri shifts his glare to Gwendal, changing it to a small smile. Walking out of the dugout, Yuuri roughly sits down beside the tall man.
"Whew! I'm tired. Squatting takes a lot out of you." Closing his eyes, Yuuri lets the slight breeze relax him from the grueling practice. Gwendal can't help but look at the short man's form.
"Gwendal?"
"Yes Yuuri?"
"What were you thinking about earlier when you were looking at me earlier?"
"...nothing", came Gwendal's curt reply.
"You can't stare at somebody and not be thinking about something. That's the whole reason why somebody would stare, they're thinking. Is it embarrassing or something? I won't make fun of you if it is."
Gwendal scowls at the young man, but sighs. "I want to know you...as you are in this world."
Yuuri stares blankly at the taller man. "Why?"
Gwendal stares hard at Yuuri, furrowing his brows. "You...seem different here; perhaps because you're more comfortable here...on Earth."
"I guess. I've never really thought about it." They stare at each other for a few moments, trying to guess what each is thinking.
Gwendal is the first to break the unintentional staring contest. "So what do we do now, Yuuri?"
Yuuri thinks for a moment before answering. "Well, I don't know. We've still got 3 hours until its dark and even then we can do something because we have streetlights. How do you feel at the moment?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean like, are you hungry? Tired? Want to dance? Hey, I've got an idea! Let's go see the Sakura Trees!"
"What are those?"
"They are the most beautiful tree. At this time of the year, the blooms begin to fall; it looks like snow with the amount of blooms falling. Every year..." Yuuri hesitates, looking down into his lap. "Every year, when I was younger, Shori and I would go watch the blooms fall. Hehe, it was usually when my parents were fighting or we had a scary baby-sitter; he would take me to watch the blossoms fall to calm us down."
Gwendal looks at the slumped form of the Maou, and oh, how his heart twists at seeing the ever cheerful Yuuri sad. Holding himself back, Gwendal allows the sudden urge to hug Yuuri to pass. Had he been Conrad or Gunter, he would have hugged Yuuri, but being the man with an iron mask that rarely breaks, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"How come you stopped?" Gwendal asks in an alarmingly soft tone he didn't know he could make.
"I don't know...I wish I knew." Yuuri is silent for a moment, then shaking his head, he stands up. "I'm going to shower and change in the restroom then after that, we'll drop my bag off at home and then we'll do something. I'll be back in ten minutes." Yuuri doesn't even wait for Gwendal's reply; he just turns and walks away with his head hanging.
Gwendal feels his chest tighten as he watches the Maou walk into the restroom. 'Why do I feel this way when Yuuri looks hurt or happy? What's the meaning of this?' Gwendal stands up and begins walking slowly in the ballpark area. A few children run by him with gloves and balls, laughing and jumpy in youthful joy. Gwendal stands still for a moment. 'I've never experienced that kind of joy or happiness. Have I ever been happy?' As Gwendal contemplates the answer, he stares out at the falling sun, noting that it's not much different than the sun in New Makoku.
Suddenly there is a tap on his shoulder, startling him from his thoughts. He instinctively reaches for his sword as he whips around, but finding nothing he decides to punch his perpetrator in self-defense. His 'attacker' ducks below the flying fist, shouting, "WHOA! GWENDAL!"
