#noriforace2kforever

[rewatching]

[summer numbers. a year ago it seemed like an impossibility, a mirage he'd have no part of, their age still waiting in the wings as they followed the backs of their seniors, the other front-runners who walked before them like giants.

hisashi doesn't have a number in his hands, and at first that had hurt, a lot. he still feels brittle and hollow, all those months of toil bringing nothing but a scorebook in the dugout and no chance at bat, when he thinks about it, but it's never been just about him. the team means too much to him to be angry with his teammates, instead of himself.

and when nori is finally wearing the one hisashi knew he could take, that's their age standing on stage, their giant walking among them.

it's getting late in the evening when he finds nori, sun down and the team scattering to dorm rooms. it takes him five minutes of peeking around before he follows his instincts and passes through the cafeteria to the opposite exit. there. ] Nori. [ he moves carefully into his space, hands linked in front of himself casually. ] Don't stay up too late, ace. [ he smiles, and there's honesty in it. ]

Comments

[rewatching]

[ (the question did come out of left field, in a sense - after all, that's where the field had spread out beneath his feet for two-and-one-third years here at seido. you can take the outfielder out of the outfield, but you can't take the outfield out of the outfielder, and that's okay, when baseball's what brought them here in the first place.)

butterflies flutter in his throat when nori leans in that little bit. he's hopeful - that hadn't exactly looked negative - but there's no absolutes in love or baseball, and he waits, trying to ignore the butterflies multiplying. he's frozen with anticipation until nori answers,, and he smiles, reflexive, at the affirmative. ]

I'm very glad to hear that. [ he twists to put them face-to-face and leans up to close the gap between them, gently pressing his palm to nori's shoulder for a little extra balance. he kisses softly, but with the exact same persistence that makes him a successful scout. ]

[sidewind]

[he could never have expected anything different. he had never done too much imagining, as too much of that generally tends to lead to things like disappointment and heartache, but this is... beyond anything that's entered his mind, anyway, and yet still completely within the realm of yes, this makes sense. funny how that works.

he's shy, at first; he always is, no matter what new thing he's trying he always starts off a little too cautious, a little slow to adapt, something easily mistaken for ineptitude or lack of drive, but it's only moments before shy uncertainty blossoms into warmth and steadiness, joined by a heady rush of boldness that sweeps through him and has him lifting a hand to cradle the side of nabe's face as if to draw him further in. it almost feels like it'll be too much, but the worry seems distant, and he isn't afraid right now. not one bit.]

[rewatching]

[ nori gains steam quicker than he'd thought he would. he would smile, if he weren't otherwise occupied. instead he leans into nori, not quite enough to close the gap between them. that feels a little too wide a cavern to hop across just yet, when he's still learning how their hands fit together.

his fingers slide to curve over the slope of nori's shoulder in response to the hand on his face. the touch is a surprise, but the sweet kind. he hums, just a tiny bit. sometimes he lets his daydreams get away from him, when facts are a little too harsh. this bucked his expectations, tossed probabilities out the window, and it's real, better and gentler and so - nori. ]

[sidewind]

[not that he could ever be anything else; he's long since learned that he isn't built to emulate others, and the best way for him to succeed is to slowly, piece by piece, embrace the things that set him apart. if asked, he certainly wouldn't be able to explain what exactly a very nori kiss is like, but as he's done with baseball, he'll learn to make this his own as well, in time.

hopefully it's something nice enough to do more than once, because he's feeling like he's going to combust from happiness, enough where he finds himself smiling too much to continue kissing, and he breaks away with something suspiciously like a giggle.] Ah-- sorry, sorry, I just... [yeah, no, that's an actual giggle.] I'm-- happy.