The Mariners' first game against the Lycaons was in less than an hour, and Toa could honestly say he was not excited. He wasn't the emotional type, but when he burned bridges and cut ties with others, he didn't usually plan on coming into contact with them again, especially when his emotions were involved. Emotions were often the source of his failures, although they were few and far between. Nevertheless, he would be coming into indirect contact with his old team, and thanks to the new confidence he instilled in them, they'd probably be much more ballsy than they had been. With a longing look out the window into the lot where he was parked, Toa headed down to the field where the other coaches and assistants had gathered.
The Lycaons dugout was across the field a ways away, but he could still feel the gaze of his old team boring into him. While the teams warmed up, it became apparent to Toa that he would most likely be ignored in favor of antagonizing the Mariners. Sugadaira had already thumbed his nose at Brooklyn during batting practice by hitting several pitches that he knew Brooklyn struggled with. Before he could turn away to touch base with Imawano, he saw Ideguchi approaching the dugout.
"Hey," he began, speaking directly to Toa. "I know you probably don't care, but I wanted to let you know that we intend to crush you today. We won't hold back. We'll use everything we have to win. We've become stronger, and now we're going to prove it to you".
Toa gazed back at him with the best indifferent look he could muster. "I wouldn't expect anything less, Captain Ideguchi", he said, using Ideguchi's official title to emphasize the shift in their relationship.
Ideguchi gave him a cold look before turning around and heading back to his own dugout. Imawano scoffed, muttered something about how players nowadays had no respect, and made another assistant take notes on the batting lineup practice they had just witnessed. Toa kept up his indifferent facade, pointedly not looking over at the players. They were probably waiting to see his reaction at being publicly called out. Not too long after, the lineup was announced, and the game began.
As Ideguchi had promised, it was a massacre. Takahashi pitched well, most likely doing his best impression of Toa's own "blank state of mind". Kojima had obviously outdone himself with the outfielders, as they were handling Kawanaka and Kira just fine. The score wasn't too unequal until the fifth inning, when a pitching change was announced, bringing Kurai to the mound.
Toa observed his pitches with the same cold indifference he had perfected during his time with the Lycaons, but it was becoming increasingly obvious to him that there was a blatant gap in ability that no fancy training would bridge. He struck out batter after batter, sinking the overall morale in the dugout, save for Amami, who was still as pumped up as ever about facing Kurai on the field. He had really created a monster with that one.
At the top of the eighth, he spared a glance over the players in the dugout, eyes lingering slightly over Takami. He seemed more resigned than depressed. After he was struck out almost immediately by Kurai, he slipped out the door into the hallway behind the dugout. He turned to look back over the field, but Imawano caught his eye first. Imawano jerked his head in the direction Takami had gone, all but ordering Toa to go after him and bring him back. Toa barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes before he turned and walked out after him.
It wasn't long before he found Takami slumped over on a bench, leaning forward with his head resting on his hands.
"What's wrong with us?", Takami asked quietly. "When did they surpass us this much? I thought it was just a teamwork issue, but they really are too good".
Toa looked straight ahead, refusing to look at Takami in his moment of weakness. That was a level of awkward that Toa was not interested in at the moment.
"They've been working at it for a while now", he began. "Teamwork still plays into it. While you guys were infighting, they were getting stronger. I definitely didn't slow them down in that regard", he added as an afterthought. "You knew the first game would be like this", he continued. "Once you get used to the way they play now, you might be able to catch up sooner or later".
Takami heaved a sigh. "That's not too reassuring", he said. " This is the part where you say you have a miracle plan to bail us out and save the day".
Toa snorted at that. "I never really did that", he muttered. "They did a lot of the work themselves. I just facilitated some growth".
Takami stood up and started walking back in the direction of the dugout. "I didn't expect you to be the type that sells yourself short", he said. "It would be nice if you could facilitate some growth in us right about now". With that, he he walked back into the dugout with Toa following close behind him.
After being served a crushing defeat by the Lycaons, Itsuki Takami was not in good spirits. His worst fears had been confirmed; the Lycaons really were stronger. Unlike the rest of his team however, he still did have some hope. The Lycaons's tricks would only last for so long until everyone else caught on. Their batting lineup could eventually be caught up by tricks from their pitchers. And Kurai's pitches would only be effective for so long. It wasn't like his pitches were anything special, other than the fact that they were pretty fast. Enough training on the pitching machines the team already had on the fastest setting would probably do the trick. Itsuki heaved a breath of relief. They would get through this in the end.
The next day, Itsuki was in decidedly higher spirits than his teammates. They obviously hadn't thought the situation out like he had. Or maybe they had, and they were still intimidated. It didn't really matter, as it was becoming increasingly obvious that the game would be rained out that day. Amami was looking particularly sullen, most likely because he wouldn't have the chance to be humiliated by Kurai that day. Itsuki could understand having a rivalry with one particular pitcher; he just didn't want Amami's rivalry to turn into an obsession. He knew how well that could turn out.
Itsuki went through morning practice with ease, letting himself get swept away by his routines. After practice ended, he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. The game against the Lycaons had been confirmed to be cancelled. They had had their practice in the indoor practice arena, so he hadn't had a chance to peek outside yet that day. As he made his way outside, he could understand why the game was cancelled. It was absolutely pissing down rain.
After a long and treacherous car ride home, he stood in the middle of his living room not quite sure what to do with himself. He had held out some hope for the game that night, so he hadn't made any plans for dinner or entertainment. He didn't have any plans to cook up for their next game, and he had already finished all the books he had been planning on reading. Before he could start puttering around, his phone began to ring. He picked it up a bit too fast, and was rewarded with the voice he had been hoping for.
"Hey" Tokuchi said, "You're coming over tonight".
Itsuki was speechless for a moment. "I am?" he asked.
"Yeah", Toa said. "The game was cancelled, but you still probably didn't make any plans just in case". Takami noted a brief pause. "Unless you have something better to do?" Toa finished, a smug edge to his voice.
Itsuki was already putting his shoes on at that point. "You know I don't", he said. "Just tell me where you live, and I'll be there".
True to his word, he got to Toa's apartment building in record time. Looking over the exterior, he was surprised to note that it looked like it was the same kind of mid tier upper class type of apartment building that he lived in. Big windows, lots of stories. Glancing around, he didn't see Toa's car. He had most likely parked underground. He headed inside and to the elevator. The doorman, because of course there was a doorman, didn't blink once at him. That was probably a good sign.
Once he came to a stop at Tokuchi's floor, he looked around, noting that there were five units on that floor, which was strange. He would think that Tokuchi would be the kind of guy to live in a penthouse apartment spanning an entire floor. He shrugged it off, and knocked on Tokuchi's door. He didn't have to wait long before Tokuchi opened the door. At first glance, Itsuki was a little thrown. Tokuchi was wearing jeans and a green knit long sleeve shirt. He knew that Tokuchi probably dressed more casually around his home, but actually seeing him in something other than button up shirts and baseball jerseys was something new for him.
"Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to come in?" Tokuchi asked.
"Ah, sorry Tokuchi, I'm coming in", Itsuki said, keeping himself from stuttering shamefully.
After a second, Tokuchi glanced over at him. "I thought I told you that you could call me by my first name".
Itsuki nodded at him in response. He had to break that habit.
After brushing past Toa to enter his apartment, Itsuki hesitated a bit. It was not at all what he was expecting. Instead of a spacious floor plan and chandeliers, he saw a small but still kind of trendy efficiency apartment. It still had high ceilings and huge windows, but the living room and kitchen were only divided by a small countertop. Other than that, there was only a half wall separating the bedroom from the rest of the apartment. It made sense in a sort of way for Itsuki. It was clean cut and expensive, but not overly excessive.
"So, what did you have in mind?" he asked turning to Toa.
"We could watch a movie", he suggested.
That was probably a safe bet. That's what they had done when they hung out at Itsuki's place on New Year's Eve. But Itsuki didn't see a tv in the living room. Just a small sofa and chair set.
"Back here", Toa said, nodding his head in the direction of his bedroom. Itsuki had to stifle a smile at that. Toa was probably scheming again. He followed Toa into the section of the apartment partitioned off as a bedroom. He was once again mildly taken aback at the size. It was big enough just for one double bed shoved up against the window, and one nightstand built into the wall with a tv about five feet from the foot of the bed. Itsuki sat down on the side of the bed against the wall. He wasn't really scared of heights, but that didn't mean he was ready and willing to press himself up against the glass of a tenth story apartment.
Toa took the side of the bed against the window and glanced over at Itsuki. "Well?" He asked, "What do you want to watch?"
Oh. That's right. Itsuki had completely forgotten about their apparent routine of picking a movie. Itsuki looked over the selection. It was sparser than his had a pretty blended selection of both English and Japanese movies. "What about that one?" He asked, pointing to an English title.
"Sure", Toa said. "I actually haven't had a chance to watch it yet. I've heard it's supposed to be good". With that, He popped "The Blair Witch Project" into the VCR.
About 45 minutes later, Itsuki was pressed against the headboard of Toa's bed, doing his damn best to keep a straight face. It wasn't that the movie was scary. No, it was just ridiculously suspenseful. He wasn't a big fan of suspense. Not in a movie and not in real life. He risked a glance over at Toa, who looked as calm and collected as ever, relaxing against the headboard in such a way that his shoulder was barely brushing his own, but maintaining his own space. Itsuki raised an eyebrow at him, but of course he was just nonchalantly watching the movie. Itsuki huffed a bit, then scooted over so that he was pressed right up against Toa's side, slinging his arm around Toa's shoulders. Toa glanced up at him in what Itsuki hoped was mock irritation, then turned back to the screen. Itsuki would almost dare to say that Toa even relaxed a bit more against him.
After the decidedly upsetting ending of the movie, Itsuki was ready and willing to admit that he was uncomfortable. For the past hour, he had been aware of Toa's every breath, heartbeat, and shift in position. He had thought pulling him closer was a good power move, but Toa had somehow flipped his actions around on him, possibly without even realizing it. Just like usual. Glancing over at Toa's bedside clock, he was a little surprised at how early it was. It was only a little before eight. He decided that he needed to act soon, but Toa had already begun to speak.
"So what did you think? I actually liked it, and I'm usually not even a fan of horror movies. I thought-" Toa was set to go on, but Itsuki interrupted him first.
"How long are we going to keep up pretenses?" He asked, looking over at Toa.
Hello everybody! This will be the last chapter I post here on . It's gotten to the point where I can't continue the story and cut out the smut at the same time, and I don't know enough about the censors on to rewrite the scenes. I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it! If you want to continue to read this story, and you're above 18, please check me out on AO3. I've continued to update Turnabout past this point.