6. Lights-Out
A couple of days later, Jack was getting ready for his next start. It was the first time they would face the Immortals since he left the team. Jack really wanted to make the guys sorry that they let him go, but at the same time he was looking forward to seeing Kiryu again.
They were the visiting team this time, and Jack had been assigned Bruno as his roommate. Not the most scintillating company, but quiet, at least, and not at all his type, so no problems were likely to arise in that area. Just the way Jack liked it. Easy to keep his mind on baseball.
Standing on the mound to throw his last warm-up pitches before the game, he glanced over his shoulder. Yusei seemed to have come around. He didn't know why exactly, whether it was the attraction thing or the fact that he'd confided in him, but there was something, some bond of trust there now, and moreover, Yusei seemed to have talked Crow around, too.
The pitching staff had made overtures, but they wanted him to share tips and tricks with them. But they'd given him the most grief about Saiga, so he had decided to make them wait before he showed them a damn thing. If they can figure things out second-hand through Red, so be it. He can say he cooperated.
And then, there had been that awkward clubhouse silence. What had the discussion been about—other than him—and what was its import? Had Yusei started it? He shouldn't care, should he?
Sighing, he threw his last warm-up pitch, trying to forget everything except the Immortals and the business at hand.
The game started well. He had a shutout going into the second inning and was already at bat. He grinned and winked toward Kiryu. No way he wasn't going to get a hit. He wanted to talk with Kiryu anyway. Sure enough, he looped a bloop hit over the third baseman's head.
"Hey, Kiryu," he said, shrugging on the warm-up jacket that the first base coach handed him.
"Hey, Jack. You're killing us. Want to give us a break?"
"Why don't you ask your pitcher to give you a break? He's the one giving up all the hits."
"So how's your new team treating you?"
"They've been …" He stood on the bag, staring in toward the plate, where Crow was taking his swings. "Huh. At first, they were bitching pretty badly, but the last couple of days it's eased off. Maybe it'll work out all right."
"Your talent, they've no right to gripe."
"Ah, they loved the guy the team sent down to make room for me."
"Not your fault."
"No, but he still made room for me."
"Hey, want to get a beer after the game?"
"Sure … Uh, gotta go, Crow got a walk." He trotted over to second base.
After the game, Kiryu grabbed Jack and dragged him to his favorite bar, a seedy little place down in one of their old neighborhoods in Satellite.
"Can't you find a higher class joint than this?" asked Jack. "They barely stock anything drinkable."
"Oh, don't be such an elitist. You used to drink this stuff all the time."
"In the old days I was broke all the time."
"Look at you now. All dandied up, wearing earrings and necklaces, fancy white coats and boots, a dog collar, for god's sake … You don't even look like a ballplayer. You look like some sort of fluff punk."
"Fluff punk?"
"Too neat and white to be full punk, dude."
"I guess. I just pick out what I like."
"And what you like is a little weird, man."
"And yours isn't?"
"Point taken." They picked up their beers and sat down. "I guess you've seen our record. Losing you hasn't done us any good. Morale has been low. It's like they don't care if we win."
"I think they want to rebuild."
"That's the kind way to put it." Kiryu frowned. "OK, what's with you? You seem … a little down."
He should have known Kiryu would catch on quick. Problem was, he couldn't really talk about it with him. As far as he knew, Kiryu was straight and he hadn't dared say anything to him about his orientation. He needed his friend and didn't dare risk losing him … especially with the situation in Satellite. And now, it seemed a little late to bring something like this up. So he always had to talk around the point. "I … it's …"
"Carly?"
"That's part of it."
"What is it? You want to take things to the next level, and she's shy? She seems the shy type."
"That's not the problem."
"Then … she wants to get married alr—"
"That's not it! It … no … it's just that … I … I'm thinking it might not work out." He stared into his beer morosely. "I'm wondering if … how to break up with her. I wish I could do it without hurting her feelings."
"Really? I thought you two would be good together. You're so … you … and she …"
"What, worships the ground I walk on?" he said irritably. "Go ahead, say it."
"OK, something like that."
"And you think that would make us 'good together'? You think I want someone who just … adores me? Who agrees with everything I do and say?"
"You said it, I didn't. You're the K King, Jack. You're the one who refers to himself using his own full name."
"Whatever," he grumbled. "I don't care. It … it just isn't going to work, Kiryu."
Kiryu stared at him, perplexed. "Sometimes I just don't get you, Jack. Most of the time you're really positive and confident, but sometimes you just turn on a dime and get … bummed. Huh. It's always dating."
"I can't seem to get it to work, Kiryu. That's the problem. I'm looking for the perfect g—ideal person. Someone … special. That's all."
"You know, Jack, you might not ever find a perfect girl. You might have to settle for fantastic." He laughed. "Jack, why the hell am I consoling you? You should be trying to make me feel better. My team lost."
"Yeah, sorry, Kiryu."
As they piled off the bus in Domino, Kazama pulled Jack aside. "You won't regret it," he said enthusiastically.
"I already am."
"But … Jack, you told me that you didn't want to buy in Domino and your place in Satellite is too far to commute to. C'mon, my place is really too large for just me—"
"Why the hell did you buy it then?"
"My manager insisted that it was a great investment. I barely use half the space. C'mon, Jack. I'll let you pay me rent, if you insist! But, honestly, I'd rather you just crash. I could use the company."
Jack grimaced. "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"
"Me? I'm not being nice. I liked you right away, but … you know how it is when the team is being all … weird. I'm sorry about that. I could really use the company and … besides, I really want to make it up to you … how the team treated you at first, giving you the cold shoulder and all. OK?"
"Well, all right. I am getting kind of sick of hotel living."
"Great. Let's swing by and grab your gear and I'll show you the place."
Yusei, grabbing his duffel off of the bus, noticed the two and took a moment to look after them, frowning thoughtfully. Crow watched him. "Jealous?" he asked.
"What? No …"
"Yes you are." Crow grabbed his wrist. "Let's go grab a beer and hang out, just like the old days. We can catch some action flicks at my place."
"Yeah, but …" I'm not jealous, he thought to himself. And Kaz isn't gay … I don't think. He's not, is he? Damn, if only he weren't so good-looking …
"Yusei?"
"Nothing. Sounds like a great idea."
The days leading up to Jack's next start went fairly uneventfully for once, with Jack settling in at Kaz's place and the team seeming to settle down into a routine hum. Jack was beginning to feel more at home as he hit his daily workouts. The other pitchers were beginning to watch him, amazed at the level of conditioning he put in every day. Bruno, in fact, was starting to ratchet up his own routine, as if determined to eventually come up to his level.
Jack was determined to stay at an elite level, of course. Without over-tiring himself.
Finally Jack's game day arrived.
Every rotation means one less opportunity until the playoffs, Jack thought. He was going to have to make every one of them count.
Even if he had to strike out every batter he faced.
This game with the Vipers was essential. They were going to be anything but easy.
Finishing his warm-up pitches, he pulled into his stance to face his first batter.
Strike.
It felt great. He had a good feeling about the night.
That feeling continued into the top of the fifth, as he had a shutout going and had hit a two-run double on top of it. He grinned. If they were stupid enough to try to pitch around people to get to the pitcher's spot in the lineup!
Even the infield was beginning to loosen up behind him, chatting up a steady stream of insults toward the batter. Could it be that he'd finally start feeling at home here?
But no way he could get complacent against the Vipers. They had a number of hitters with good averages. The low-average slugger could hurt you with one swing, but Jack was good enough to put that swing into a different game. It was harder to postpone a hitter who manufactured hits. Get enough of those hitters together and, voila, a manufactured run. Enough of those, there goes the game!
His job was to keep the guy off the basepaths.
Jack rolled the baseball in his hand, feeling the seams, as the lead-off batter took his practice swings, laying a baleful eye on Jack the entire time. Nick Tartopolis.
Jack discounted the rumors that he corked his bat, but he knew for a fact that he spiked infielders on the slide because he'd seen it happen. He really wanted to keep him off the paths.
Unfortunately, the guy was seeing the ball particularly well tonight. He'd fought the ball off and brought the count to two and two after fouling at least four pitches and missing only one.
I'm going to get you, sucker!
Jack considered whether he should changeup a little or a lot or how far into his bag of tricks he should reach. He didn't like to drag out special pitches for just any occasion when his regular stuff was working, but he this guy was wasting too many pitches. He needed to get off the plate.
I think I'll just drop the bottom out of this one.
Jack's sinker was difficult to lay off of because it looked like his regular fastball … that is, before it dropped like a stone over the plate. The secret was not to rely on it.
Jack decided, shook off signs until he got the right one, then reared up and let fly.
Just as suddenly, the ball returned with a crack of the bat.
Instinctively, Jack threw his body in front of the liner to his right to knock it down before he even registered how stunned he was that the guy managed to hit it.
He felt the impact hard against his ribs.
Gasping for breath, he grabbed for the ball making to flip it to first, but something was distinctly weird. Before he could quite make out what it was, he felt himself stumble as the world went black.
Author's Notes:
Yeah, last time I ended up pruning out some stuff and shortening up the chapter, so I wanted to post another quickly. I think that I have a good idea where I'm going with this now, so hopefully I'm not writing myself into a corner or leaving anything out. (in other words, hopefully I won't have to backtrack and re-post a chapter - anathema!) Any-hoo, I'm posting now, so here I go.
Secondly, I'm wondering if I want to do any beta'ing (I keep waffling). Any thoughts? Go ahead and say something or PM.
"I blame you and 'Satisfaction' on the fact that I actually watched the whole 5D's ..." Man, I'm flattered! (Gee, I hope you liked it!) "Though actually I want to see fics for canon too" Will see what I can do ... I hope to eventually be able to get going on Where There's Fire ... c'mon 4Kids, get with the program ...
Lights-Out: An extremely effective pitcher is said to pitch lights-out baseball (such that the other team might as well turn out the lights and go home).
K King: Since I didn't explain the reference in the first chapter, a K is a slang term for a strikeout (transferred from boxing, knockout). So, in other words, "Strikeout King."
Jealous?: Because of the instant friendship that springs up between these two in the anime, Jack/Kaz seems like a natural yaoi pairing. But do I want to play on it in this story? I'm still wavering on that. If you have an opinion, please feel free to offer it. (I know, I don't often ask for input, but this isn't exactly a major point - not now at any rate.)
Next time ...
What happens next, natch! Mysterioso! Or maybe not so ... but hopefully fun, anyway!