MaruMA:Doujinshi4:Story5

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Takabayashi Tomo

The ones who read Shibuya's baseball short novels are people from R・FREE. (of course)

The other day at an editorial meeting:

G: "What are you going to write about next?

Takabayashi: "Baseball..."

G: "And besides that..?"

The female junior and high-school students will stop liking the series. I sulked while drinking coffee through a straw. Only the creepy sound of a phone ringing echoed in the room.

Lately I've been thinking... about that song that goes 'Big brother changes into Yukie late at night'.

"Surely you..."

"It'll come, it will come for sure."

I heard a traumatized voice as my mom charged from the KITCHEN.

Mom watched 'The Ring' on the big screen. She also watched The Ring 2, The Ring 0, even the Hollywood version of "THE RING". She also watched "Lord of the Rings". She's a hardcore RING lover.

"Big brother changes into Yukie late at night is something that you stole from a variety show, right, Yuu-chan? By the way, MAMA likes Tomie more than Yukie. Ah, it was so scary! 'Ghost actress' was scary, too."

"If it scares ya, why you watch it?"

"Because it's entertaining. Scary stuff is fun. But we weren't talking about that Yuu-chan! Today is the event that comes once a year, Christmas Eve, okay? You know, that's right? You get it? Christmas Eve."

Or as my dad who loves puns would call it, Kurushimimasu Eve (The Eve of Suffering). I've heard that pun about 70 times in my lifetime.

"Then why is my good-looking son of an average height and good personality lounging in the LIVING (room) of our home, in the RING for short, under the kotatsu? And also..."

I was lying facing down, turning only my head towards my mother. My arms spread at an angle of 20 degrees, making my head look like the end of a giant arrow. Cianfrocco and Zinter laid comfortably in the space between my arms and body.

"... you have some really long hairs growing from under your armpit."

"It's their fault that I can't get up."

"Don't blame this on the dogs. Even without the dogs you're always sleeping under the kotatsu, right? C'mon Cian, Zin, tell big brother to get up."

When the warmth of the animals left me, the sides of my stomach got slightly cold. My mother stroked the ears of the dogs playfully and picked up the gray remote with her right hand.

"TV time is over. Listen, Yuu-chan. MAMA is a little worried about how you're spending the springtime of your life.

"If this is going to be a long lecture..."

In an attempt to retreat to the kotatsu in my own room, I lift my aching hips. Because I was sleeping in a strange position, I felt my spine creak and flinched for a second.

"Okay, don't leave just yet. As I thought, it's kinda weird."

"What is?"

"A high school boy like this? You don't think of anything other than baseball and training and you lie around the house. That's not normal, don't you think? A 16 year old should be wanting to get a girlfriend, going to town to pick up girls... wanting to have sex... no! I don't want to picture Yuu-chan like that!"

I don't want my mother picturing such things. Or rather, I don't even want her thinking about it.

"B-but as the mother of a teenage son, I'm inevitably prepared for such circumstances. I've been prepared since before your cute boy voice started changing. And also, from there on, for the road you'll take to become an old guy."

"It seems like you missed a part?"

Mom released an exaggerated sigh, and scenically brushed her eyebrows.

"But despite that, you spend all day in your room, decorated only with baseball posters and next year's CALENDAR of the Seibu Lions which you pre-purchased. You don't have a single porn book, and what I thought was a DVD for adults labeled "Seibu Lion's path to victory", didn't have any porn in it, but contained what the label actually said."

"You went through my room!?"

"I can't take it, there's such a big difference between you and your older brother that MAMA is worried. Could it be that the reason is 'that', Yuu-chan?"

She lowered her voice.

"... That you only love people in UNIFORMS?"

"N-no! You're wrong!"

"Do you want to go to therapy?"

"I don't~!"

"Oh, my. It's fine Yuu-chan, you don't need to cry. There's nothing wrong with you. It's not like it's a serious illness or anything like that."

It's not unthinkable that I may want to start crying.

Is this what a real mother does? To simply say out loud the things that they figured out about their son? A self proclaimed progressive mother is struggling with this?

"I simply like baseball! I don't have a girlfriend with whom to go out and pick up a present. The fact that I'm napping at home at 3 in the afternoon is the result of not being able to understand why I have such severe lack of popularity."

Out of desperation I confused the honorifics. Meanwhile the parent before me had a "no way" expression on her face. All parents are the same when it comes to this. They have no doubts that their sons are popular with the girls.

"That's a lie, MAMA used to be really popular!"

"Is that so?"

"It's true. And because Yuu-chan resembles MAMA, there's no way that you're not winning in love."

So she declared. But there was one part about that that made me hold my head with both hands.

"But mom you were popular with men, right? But if my love interest are women and I have no interest in 'getting to the finishing line' with guys..."

"No way! Jennifer, the musketeer of Ferris, was also popular among those of her same gender!"

"... Who's that..?"

And also, how long ago was that? One should never, ever ask for one's parents' past to be unleashed. You'll end up with a stack of boo-hoo-hoo stories.

"And what about your clothes? Doesn't my son who's now a high school student, want more fashionable, well-known brand clothes? Other than the school uniform, you only have baseball UNIFORMS and jerseys and... ah! This can't be... such a 16 year old."

"Nike is a well-known brand, right?"

"You're wrong... You're wrong, Yuu-chan. If at this hour you can't place an order anymore, it's fine if you go to Uniqlo. Just please go and buy some clothes that a 16 year old would wear. For the holidays, I gave you money right?"

"Yes, you-gave-it to me"

"Even so, why did you come home the following day with a new UNIFORM undershirt and SLIDING underwear?

"What are you going on and on about!? I bought clothes, okay!? At Minami Sports."

"But they're not clothes 'to go out'!"

Is this really bothering her so much!?

Why shouldn't I buy this? I mean it's an average jersey. It's fine to leave the house wearing a UNIFORM on holidays, right? I mean, besides his suits, dad has sweat shirts, and my brother has a fleece jacket from his high school years. Since this is a household ruled by women, the baseball population has gradually been decreasing.

I put my cheek on the kotatsu, and while I read the difficult kanji on the cups from a sushi-place that was right before my nose, the lecture extended by ten times. 鮠 (carp), 鯒 (flat-head fish), 鰰 (sand-fish)... I was completely defeated.

"Could you at least stop wearing jerseys when you are riding the train?"

"I pretty much only take the train to go to the stadium."

My mother took off the frilly apron that was in the way and sat straight on her knees with a serious posture.

It will come, it will come for sure.

"Yuu-chan, MAMA is sad."

I knew it, here it is.

"I want to spend Christmas Eve quietly with my family, as a solemn event. I have the same opinion about this matter as the men and women who return to the United States. But you know, this is a non-religious country: it's PARADISE JAPAN. When in Rome, do as the Roman's do. So I think that you should spend a HOT and THRILLING HOLY NIGHT with girls of your own age."

"What does that mean? At any rate, what do you mean my 'return to the United States'? How many months did I live in Boston? Because I have no memories of being abroad. Besides where is Christmas 'a solemn event spent with one's family? Germany? They have that kind of concept, right?"

Actually, Murata told me that.

But I had forgotten the most crucial thing. While receiving a lecture attack, you must always have a counter attack posture. That's the golden rule of defense. Sure enough, my mother intensified her attack.

"I certainly understand that the result of the Japan Series was SHOCKING and that you're depressed."

"That has nothing to do with this, okay~!?"

"No, it's not completely unrelated. I mean, didn't you say that the grade that you got at the end-of-the-year examination, and the grades of the second semester were all a side-effect of the crushing defeat of the Seibu Lions? But you know, it's the end of the year already. It's Christmas, and the last month of the year. The players who went to Hawaii for a celebration trip have already returned. Even so, why are you always in such low spirit? Even if they had a losing streak of 4 games, there will be a Japan Series next year as well, right? When mom was a kid, Japan had lost the war, you know?"

"... There's no way you were born back then."

"But that's why many years after the war, we, the Japanese, took REVENGE becoming an economic power. So, look! Even if the Seibu lost, they should take REVENGE economically."

"Like... selling books? Or rather, that sounds like avoiding the problem..."

"In any case, Yuu-chan you have to cheer up! You have to have a fun Christmas."

Since the kotatsu started to get warmer, I lifted my face and looked at the time on the stereo system.

"Even if I get all worked up now, it's past 4."

Because the high-school students' parties are stupid, loud, and a pain to go to, I declined the invitation. It's not like I'm going to criticize them for wanting to drink alcohol, but I refuse being forced to do the same. The plans of my friends who have girlfriends are obvious, so there's no one other than Murata available.

"Nuh-uh, it's fine. You don't necessarily need to go out with friends. Yuu-chan, you can spend a solemn Christmas Eve with your family. And this year, you can keep MAMA company."

"This year too, you mean?"

"By the way, there's that song: "Mama and I, just the two of us for Christmas", right?... Did you just say something?"

She has strangely sharp ears. This is what I've been doing all along, facing mom from the other side of the table, year after year. There's nothing more awkward than this.

"And so... here, this is for you to go buy cake and champagne."

The slightly wealthy housewife took 10,000 yen from her wallet, and fluttered them before my nose. To spend a Fukuzawa Yuichi on cake!? In the brain of an absolutely poverty stricken baseball kid, the digital numbers of a calculator showed up. New spikes, new spikes, new spikes...

"As for cake, you know? If we wait til tomorrow it will be half price. It's fine if we don't buy it today."

"Oh, no Yuu-chan! Mama hates people who think like that. Aren't you supposed to eat it during Christmas Eve? And right now we can't find cake at half price anywhere. Yuu-chan, you really don't know anything about the world, huh?"

These are the second rank words that I really don't want to hear from someone like my mom who was raised as a high-born lady. Yuu-chan, you really don't know anything about the world, huh?

"So, cake. If possible with two types of chocolates. Also, please buy champagne at the liquor shop that's in the train station's building. You can also get the Santa Claus glasses there. Ah! But don't buy any fried chicken. Because I already bought some expensive chicken. That's because Yuu-chan loves chicken."

Yes, I like chicken. Because it's absolutely necessary to have a muscular body. But because of the way my mom cooks, there's always more food than people. Of course, I'm usually quite the glutton but I don't stand a chance of winning against fried chicken bought by the kilogram.

"There's also stew and pie. Ah! Right, right, I don't want any other cake than the one you can buy at Kasai-san's in the shopping district. Over there they don't take reservations but people start lining up from 4pm till late at night. This year too, please GET a cake from Kasai-san."

"... Christmas cakes are all the same no matter where you buy them, right?"

"No, Kasai-san is different! They contract their own strawberry farmers and they use red eggs."

I heard somewhere, that the color of the eggshell has no relevance to the egg's nutritional value. Regardless, a housewife that believes "The Legend of the Red Egg" will forever continue to stick to eggs whose shells are that color. The boxes that the cakes come in are also the same. If it wasn't for the wrapping, it would be identical as the one you buy at the supermarket.

Due to the jersey ban when going outside, after a long time I reluctantly wrapped a muffler around my neck.

"It, it makes my neck itchy..."

It was more annoying than I expected.

After four thirty in December it's already dark and the wind that stroked my cheeks hurt. I stuck both hands in my winter jacket's pockets, and checked the 10,000 yen bill with my right hand. Just having such high value bill, makes you end up acting suspicious. Even in a remote rural part of Saitama, all sorts of dangerous incidents occur. Even though by my looks you could tell I was just a poor high-school student, a criminal could not see that by looking at the fluffy sweater I had on.

In order to look like someone with an empty wallet, I started whistling oddly.

"Ah, Shibuya! You're making that face you make when you get your allowance..."

"Don't say it aloud, don't say it aloud! But, Murata, why are you in a place like this?"

"Why? you ask..."

Specs-kun who was my classmate in second and third year of middle school, had a bag hanging from his right hand.

"Because it's Christmas, you know? And I bought a sad, one-person cake."

The shop he was coming out was a fast food venue.

"From Moss?"

"Yes, up until last year I bought it at Mister Donuts, but they closed it in October, you know?"

He was wearing a strange long coat with big buttons and even a woolly hat on his head. Since he's an honor student at a high-level high-school, he has to make sure his head doesn't catch a cold.

Even so, Murata was shrugging his shoulders looking cold. I looked up at the cloudy sky that about to snow at any given moment. The light from the city's Christmas decorations reached all the way up in the sky.

"This year it will also be a lonely winter break. As you know, I have no girlfriend, and all of my friends from school live far away. My dad's working in Hong Kong, and as for my mom, the end of the year is a really busy season. She's staying at the office tonight, too."

"They're busy."

"It seems so, huh? Well, but she's grateful to have clients during this recession."

I haven't heard yet what his parents do for a living, but it's obvious that they're workaholics.

"What about you, Shibuya? Aren't you going to any parties with your friends?"

"Mnh... Well they're not bad guys but... I follow the doctrine of no smoking or drinking alcohol until I've finished growing."

"Ah, so that's why..."

He nodded with a know-it-all look.

"So you're saying that your personality won't allow you to stay quiet, right?"

Since Murata has always paid attention to me, he knows me pretty well. That's right, I too know that I have a troublesome nature, that I would surely end up giving them a warning like a stubborn old man. And since it's a party, it would be a shame to ruin it for them. Because they just want to act a little crazy once a year.

"What about your grass-lot baseball team mates? Don't you get together when you're not practicing?"

"No way! It's Christmas! Many of them are married men, and the rest are university students that go to matchmaking parties. Ah, but the team's end of the year party is in three days from today. If you have time, you should show up too. There's something I want to ask you..."

I looked around at the mass of people coming and going, the abundance of lights was disconcerting. Crap, where was Kasai-san's store?

"Is there a bakery called Kasai-san around here? I have no clue where it is."

"Kasai-san? Mh... Kasai-san... Ah! Patisserie-Kasai? Yeah, it's here, it's right ahead. It's a famous little place."

I turned my face towards the area that his finger was pointing towards, there was indeed a pastry shop. Female customers were coming in and out incessantly. I see, the place seems to be thriving.

"Oh? Wasn't that a flower shop?"

"It's been a pastry shop for the past three years. Shibuya, don't you usually pass by this place every day when you go window shopping at the sports equipment store?"

"How rude! I also check the pharmacy."

Because I'm not stupid! I also buy poultice every month .

Women come out of the store illuminated by little white lights, one after another, carrying boxes of different sizes. On the table outside, there are three types of boxes with red lines. That's the typical Christmas cake, right? A young man wearing a long winter jacket over his apron amiably takes care of the customers.

"It seems the strawberries and eggs are special, you know?"

"Oooh, Shibuya! You're unexpectedly a well-learned man."

"It's not me. My poor guy tongue would be more than happy with a dessert from the convenience store."

"I see, your poor guy tongue, huh?"

The young man selling cakes outside the door, raised his head for moment and looked our way. He was so young he looked like a teenager. I mean, he couldn't have been more than one or two years older than I. This high-school student on a part time job looked unusual. It was cold for his crew cut hairstyle. And his ハ (ha) shaped eyebrows were trimmed a little too much. I myself wouldn't do something like that, but there aren't cool looking guys like that in a baseball club...

Huh?

He has been standing in front of Moss Burger staring right at us, and after a couple of seconds his face lights up as he shouts.

"Shibuya Yuuri, Harajuku Furi!"

Why all of a sudden!?

He called an obviously older woman working part time to take care of the boxes outside the store, walked towards me, and pulled my arm without hesitating.

"Well, it's been a long time, my bullpen catcher. Why are you here? Did you come to help me out with the store a bit?"

After hearing those words, I finally remembered who he was.

"Could it be, Ashino-san? Ashino-senpai?"

"Hey, you didn't notice who I was after seeing me? No way! Well it must be because we haven't seen each other in two years."

"No it's not that! It's just that the look in your eyes and your appearance is different. Ah, sorry."

"It's fine. My old friends and even my parents say it often. You haven't changed at all. But I guess I'm human after all."

"... Right"

I, who in other instances tend to be quite disrespectful when it comes to using the right honorifics with older people, continue treating the older members in the team as senpai even after graduation.

And even if I had to retire from the club early, it's not like I'm a complete stranger to the baseball club. Ashino Seiji was one year my senior, so he wasn't directly involved in my RETIREMENT. Even so, I treat him as 'senpai', but I call any other high-school student 'san'.

"But why are you at a bakery... ah, is it a winter break part-time job?"

"Don't call it a bakery, it's Patisserie-Kasai. And rather than a part-time shop, this is my dad's store."

"Eh?"

I was going to say: The last name is different! but I swallowed my words quickly. There might be private reasons for that. That's right, since we're not close, let's not recklessly start a depressing conversation.

We're far from being close... When I remembered Ashino from middle school, I felt like sighing behind his back. He was an older student who didn't want to have anything to do with anyone. Whenever someone said something, he wouldn't even reply with a 'shuddap', he'd just come at you and hit you. He would not be violent enough as to give anyone an injury or beat you up, but even though at the beginning he would just hit people on their head, there were also younger students that ended up being hit on the face or stomach.

In my case, the times he hit me weren't few, but that's because starting from the first year (of middle school), he was a backup pitcher and I, as his kouhai, had the position of second catcher, so there were many times when he'd play with me .

It was common to hear him swearing, and sometimes when I took my mask off, he'd throw a STRAIGHT at my face.

When I say STRAIGHT, I don't mean a PUNCH, but a STRAIGHT throw of an official baseball ball. Which is several times more dangerous than a rookie's fist.

Although he had finished following blindly the lead of delinquent 'looking' students, he was still on the list of the school counselor.

Having said this, as a result of never being involved in a big incident or skipping class he was able to graduate, and he should have been able to enroll in a reasonably good high-school.

To be honest, I think he only got in trouble once in the third year (of middle school). At least, that's how it felt to me. I felt quite puzzled standing in front of a smiling Ashino, who was now like a completely different person.

"Since I'm in second year of high-school, I help around when I have free time. Well that and I'm just not made for studying. Right now high-school is pretty tough. That's why at least I can help around in my father's store, thinking about my future job."

"Your future. So, you're going to work at the bakery?"

"It's a patisserie. A patisserie."

If this was middle school, he would have hit me. It seems like he has really become a balanced human being. High-school student Ashino, lowered his ハ (ha) shaped eyebrows. There were not even wrinkles between his them.

"Who's that guy with you? Are you two going out?"

"What? It's a guy. He went to our same middle school. Murata Ken."

"Eh? You get along with that Muraken!?"

Why did he react like that? I always thought he was an inconspicuous student.

"You retard, Muraken's name is famous. That guy, when he started going to our middle school, he was known as a genius. He got the first place in the mock national examinations several times. Having that kind of guy in our own middle school was like having one of the seven wonders for the teachers"

"Murata? Are you saying he's the smartest of all Japan?"

"You're his friend and you don't know that?"

Although I knew he was an honor student, I didn't think his level was so high. And before this, I had asked him to be the MANAGER during the holidays without asking him if he had time first.

"Well, that's kinda like you. You don't pay attention to what's on the surface. Instead you are an unexpectedly good judge of character."

"What are you talking about?"

Murata, who had seen me shake hands with Ashino, lowered his voice slightly as he asked, "Is this an acquaintance of yours?"

"An acquaintance, I wonder, I'm not sure about that."

"Huuuu... don't be meeting with weird people, Your Majesty. Well, in Shibuya's case, he's usually careless like that. Although he's an unexpectedly good judge of character"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Well, I'm off to spend Christmas alone with the TV. Hurry up, buy the cake, and go back home."

Perfectly avoiding a talk, Murata fixed his hat. As I thought, his head must be cold. Also, his glasses are out of place.

"Hey you"

"Mn?

"Your mother's staying at the office, right?"

"Yes"

"Then, come to my home and have some chicken. Mom made a whoooole lot, and since yesterday she's also been making stew and pie."

"Are you sure? I mean, maybe she wanted to have a parent-child time, and I don't want to intrude."

Of course not! I wanted to beg. He could make the awkward atmosphere at home more relaxed, and also it was fine if he ate one or two kilograms of fried chicken. No, I'm begging you, please come and eat the chicken!

"Please, I want you to come. Or rather, I don't want to go home tonight. Ah, but is it okay if you don't show my mom that sad, one person cake? Because otherwise she'll start going on and on about it."

For now, he'll return to his home and leave the groceries there. After making Murata promise he would come, I let him go back home first.

The man at the bakery and my friend both agreed: " You are an unexpectedly good judge of character", without ever meeting before. Yeah, right. To be honest it's just intuition. I'm not joking, it's not easy to know what people are like on the inside. But I guess that kind of skill is part of being a catcher.

For example, back in the day I used to catch Ashino's pitches during the games. What I did was to go through my memories and try to remember what TYPE of balls he threw. He threw classic straight balls with reasonable speed and strength. Having said that, since in middle school people change, at first he couldn't throw curve balls. While he was growing his elbow couldn't take the curve balls and he would throw shoot-balls or fork-balls. Because his back had a low gravity center, in the following two years and after having to endure some things, he should have easily surpassed 130km/h in speed. But he got a serious injury in January, that's why I said he had to endure some things.

"With that hair... you entered the high-school club, right? How's your loose shoulder? Did it heal properly?"

"Ah, that story."

Ashino had an embarrassed smile on his face as he removed the apron from under his jacket.

"The club, yeah, I entered it but... In the fall of last year they changed (CONVERT) me to a first baseman."

"What..?"

"It had to do with what you said. What happened in January... in the end."

"Didn't you go to the doctor?"

"Hm? I went. Because of the pain, but... then they said that it was pretty bad, and that I shouldn't continue to be a pitcher."

"Wait, Ashino-san. When did you go to the doctor? Was it a long time after the diagnosis?"

A voice called for his son from inside the store, he replied shortly.

"... I couldn't find a doctor who would say something different. I really didn't think it was that serious. But look, after that I started running a lot faster. And because I got a really interesting strike, even though it was after entering high-school in the spring, I had so much strength and was so good that even I was surprised"

"But if you throw like that... I already said this, you should go and talk to a doctor. Decide how many balls you can pitch every day and if you're a little patient you should be able to SAVE your arm"

Of course, since an amateur like me can make such a decision, he should first get a diagnosis.

"I understand you can't believe it, but you're really late now... do you want to come with your senpai somewhere? Although you came here to buy my Christmas cake."

Ashino grabbed my arm and went into the store's kitchen through the back door. In the room that smelled of sweet rolls, you could see the silver oven had the leading role. A middle-aged man that spread chocolate and a marble table used his hand to stop the sound of our footsteps. His face was similar to that of his son. Even though his last name was different, he seemed to be his son.

"Father, he came here to help."

"I see."

"What are you talking about?"

Although I was completely dumbfounded, the shop-owner and his son kept on talking.

"He's okay with only getting a half day worth pay right?

"Yeah, he is."

"Then, get Sato-chan's outfit for him to borrow."

"Yeah."

"Hey, wait! I just came here to buy cake, my mother said I had to buy it."

The special part-time candidate that his son had brought said so, as Kasai-san returned to his work.

"Is whipping cream okay?"

"Y-yes, it's fine but."

"Then besides your pay for the part-time job, you'll also get the cake"

Which meant that the Fukuzawa Yukichi in my pocket would stay in my pocket? The calculator in my brain was once again moving digital numbers. New spikes, new spikes, new spikes.

The one they called Sato-chan wasn't the orange elephant in front of the pharmacy, but a part-timer that was absent because she got the flu. While opening the costume she was supposed to wear, I was stunned.

"Do I have to put this on?"

"Hurry up Shibuya, there's no time left."

It was a bright red costume with white edges, brown boots and a stocking cap. It was the latest season limited edition, big brother Santa Claus outfit.

"F-for me to put on this outfit at such a young age..."

"What are you grumbling about? I did it last year and I was the same age you are now, right? Ah, it's fine, you don't need to wear the beard, I'll wear it."

And so, wearing the Santa costume, I started putting the cake boxes on a cart. The place that we were taking them to was a place similar to a small school and in the narrow corner of the schoolyard there was a completely decorated Christmas tree. At the top there was a really nice gold star and beneath it decorations shaped like angels. Small light bulbs wrapped around it gave off red light.

"... It looks strange"

I squinted my eyes and saw that it wasn't a fir but a cedar that was still growing. It grew firmly from the ground up. There were socks that had been hung after doing the laundry and some had holes in them.

"... Strange... Are we in the wrong place?"

It wasn't bigger than an elementary school. It had the size of the type of building used for a kindergarten or a nursery.

Ashino took a big breath and released a deep voice that came from his stomach. It was very clear.

"Santa Claus is here!"

The school curtains were moved out of the way and the windows were opened wide. As soon as the fluorescent light of the garden was turned on, children came running towards us at the speed of light.

"Cake!"

"No, it's not cake! It's Santa!"

"It's fine. We figured out you were a fake Santa from the start."

I wanted to say 'then I don't need to pretend or wear this costume anymore', but I swallowed my words and dissatisfaction. Because after all , I was just a simple part-timer. And one cannot go against your employer's son.

"I don't know this person."

"This one came last year."

"Ah, it's Se-chan! Se-chan!"

The ten year olds surrounded Ashino Seiji, and when they called him Se-chan, he smiled and replied 'Hey.' I wonder if I should call him that too? Se-chan... Senpai. No way, he would hit me in a second. All the boys surrounded the cart carrying the cakes like it was a camp fire.

"They're going home after this, right?"

"Basically, these kids have no home to go back to."

"So it's a childcare where children spend Christmas eve? Some kids here are too old to be in kindergarten... and it's also not a nursery, right?"

"Ah, well, since this is a public orphanage there are children of different ages."

Orphanage, which means that, that they are...

"In other words, they're orphans."

With a soft expression that I could have never imagined in middle school, Ashino corrected my ignorant mistake.

"No, no. Some kids have parents. It's just that due to some circumstances they can't live together, or they can't raise them"

"... I see"

"My parents couldn't take care of me a while back, so after the second year of middle school, I too spent about half a year in this place.

"Eh? Then in third year of middle school you came to school from here?"

"That's right. Now that I think about it, it was the toughest time that I ever had. During first year my parents got divorced. They were nice, but there were issues with custody and child support."

The old men working at the institution were coming our way. I squinted my eyes trying to see how far they were, but I couldn't tell. And while the girls were still bowing from afar, Ashino kept talking to me.

"... Dad had just opened the store and was worrying about that, and as soon as my mom started working, she got stressed out. In the end she started saying that she had to work all day because of me, that it was my fault for having been born. Man, those days were the worst. So because I lived in this institution, children remember my name even now."

I stretched the fabric of that red suit that was so uncomfortable to wear and fixed the collar. Ashino moved the cart closer to the building carefully so that the pebbles wouldn't rise and hit the children's feet.

"And during that horrible time, you told me that."

During the spring of his third year of middle school, I was catching the balls he threw almost every day. I was his partner and we practiced throwing and coordination, and one day we ended up meeting in a game. As soon as one of the players got injured, he started using his shoulder just like when we were practicing.

They called me, the one year younger number 2 catcher to work with the number 2 pitcher. I didn't want to get involved with rude seniors but I wanted to play as a catcher. That's when Ashino looked my way. More than his appearance and behavior, I remember the balls he threw and how he threw them.

He had the habit of looking away from me before the ball left his fingers, but even if that would break the rhythm, he still didn't look at me till the end.

Instead, he delayed the movement of his upper body and that's when I noticed another worrisome thing. I had observed this happening for several weeks and neither the director or other teachers told him to be careful. So that he wouldn't think he was following the advice of adults, I told him what was wrong myself.

It was right before the big summer tournament.

"The height of your elbow is slowly dropping. If you continue to throw, your elbow will start hurting before January."

Right at that time, Ashino had had some X-rays taken at the hospital, so he found out that his right shoulder's joint was slightly loose. That's why he kept lowering his elbow. Since the director didn't tell him what to do, I advised him to see a specialist, to let him know how he could pitch safely.

As expected, Ashino didn't approach me to speak before starting the game.

Without taking the game into account, I was really disappointed that the person with whom I had practiced all this time didn't approach me on the first game we were playing together. However after that, he started pitching faster. People could have misunderstood why he lowered his elbow thinking 'The way he's pitching is really good', and since he was doing a good job, no one could have possibly believed that either of his shoulders was injured.

Of course, till this day I never found out what happened to him in high-school. But the shoulder was certainly a ticking bomb, and the quality of his pitches were different too, which I used to think were pretty good. Maybe he kept pitching without taking any precautions until the shoulder gave up. As a result he had been changed (CONVERT) to a first baseman and could not climb the mound anymore.

I snorted and took my numb, cold fingers from inside my undershirt.

"... I should have bugged you more about it"

"Why are you so serious all of a sudden?"

"If I had kept on bugging you more..."

"What are you saying? This wasn't your fault! If a kouhai would have kept going on and on about it, there was no way that me, being how I was back then, would have listened to you right?"

"Maybe, or maybe you would have stopped pitching."

"No, regardless of what I would have done, the result would have been the same. Even if they would have given me a training regime, I wouldn't have followed it. Back in those days, I had too much on my mind, and I didn't pay attention to anything. I thought that instead of losing speed, I'd rather break my shoulder. There's no point in being in a game and not being able to throw. But I couldn't endure practicing pitches all day. Although... now that I think about it..."

We entered the building and handed the cakes to the children. They all raised their voices and offered to take it to the cafeteria.

"Hey, Hideshi, be careful with that, okay? Don't mess up the decoration... Although now the relationship with my parents is better, I think that maybe back then I tried so hard because maybe what I wanted to do was scream."

"What did you want to scream at?"

"I'm not sure. At any rate, I was living here and maybe I just wanted to scream at everything that surrounded me."

Once we finished handing over the cake boxes to all the small hands, an old lady that seemed to be the director gathered the children and spoke loudly.

"All right everyone! Let's all thank Santa-san for bringing us cake."

"Ehhh!? It's not Santa!"

"It's Se-chan!"

"Well then, how about we thank Kasai-san for making all these cakes?"

Neither me nor Ashino were "Kasai-san", but we still accepted the thank yous gladly. After that, although the children didn't believe I was the real thing, they at least wanted to leave a message for the real Santa Claus and then they tied it to the cedar tree branches.

"Look, look! I wrote here what I want!"

"Ayumi wants a Ham-chan!"

"I(male), want a Final Vent!"

I wonder if an 'early bento' or some other type of 'bento' won't do.

All the things that the kids wanted were written on a rectangular card and hung from the tree. The decoration looked slightly strange.

"I think they mixed this up with Tanabata..."

As I went through some of the cards, one of the wishes was rather simple. I read it aloud.

"'I want to play catch with daddy. Hiroto' This one is really simple, it doesn't cost money at all."

"Eh? It's impossible."

"It's impossible."

"Did Hiroto's daddy die? He can't play catch from heaven?"

"Uh... he didn't die... uh.. maybe... be-because... uh."

I tried to patch up my mistake, using an especially happy tone.

"Don't you want to play with me? It's a rare opportunity that you have, don't you think? Playing catch with Santa, shortened as: "Sankichi Ball"

"What an abbreviation, huh?"

"Let's go. So, who's Hiroto? Come play catch with Santa! We can borrow a glove and ball."

"We should probably start with catching."

While I instructed my first kouhai, Ashino who had become a member of friends of the glove only last year during the fall, went running towards the building. On his way there he saw some of the staff and mixed some baseball gestures and words in his request.

"They don't have anything? No baseball equipment?"

"Right, they don't give money to this place for that. Even if you apply for some funds to the committee, the higher-ups that care about the children's well being say that baseball is dangerous... as for a ball, look. You can hit this with your head... though it's a soccer ball"

The World Cup effect got even this far.

"... Can't be helped, huh?"

I grabbed a green vinyl ball from under the cedar tree that was lying around and gave it to the boy. The shape of the ball was about the same and you could catch it with your hands without hurting your fingers.

I took ten steps, putting a distance of about ten meters between us, hit my palm with my fist and squatted.

"Let's start!"

"Shibuya, you can't be squatting when you're the catcher of children who are pitching for the first time."

"Ah, right"

I stood up and hit my chest, asking them to aim there. Once the fluorescent green ball left his finger, it went really high, and then dropped to the floor not very far. It's a pretty common mistake. All the children watching sighed in disappointment.

"Can you teach me how to hold it?"

"All right, I used to be a pitcher so I'll do it."

Ashino opened the boy's hand and made him hold the plastic ball with three fingers, but he couldn't bend the ring finger well and that took about 5 minutes. Although this time the ball made a good arc, it only flew half way before dropping. The boy looked about seven, so he should be able to throw farther than that.

"So, you should throw using your entire body, okay? Do like this, lift your left leg. What do you think? Can you do it?"

"To throw like Matsuzaka?

"Matsuzaka?"

In a second I got really happy, while pitcher senpai pondered. If he would have said Kawata at this point, I might have ran away while crying.

"I don't know Matsuzaka's style, I'm a Yakult fan."

"Then, Igarashi Ryouta."

"Hey, Shibuya."

While making a displeased face, Ashino threw the ball he was using to teach the children. I went back 8 steps quickly, and put one knee on the cold soil. I lift my arm and grab the straight ball.

"What a simple throw! I could take it with my bare hands"

"Shut up, if it was a harder ball it could have fractured four fingers"

"I wonder if that could happen now. I have gotten sturdier."

"Look you."

"Can you throw it faster?"

After hearing the girl's question, the pitcher in a red outfit shrugged. This time he threw the light vinyl ball with a lot more strength. It made a nice sound when hitting my hand and my left palm felt hot for a moment. Wow...

"Was it better now?"

"Not at all."

And so, since we both had our pride, we started testing the limits of the vinyl ball. The children started cheering happily for either the pitcher or the catcher.

"I want to be a pitcher like Se-chan."

"Huh? But I'm not a pitcher anymore."

"Who wants to be a catcher like me?"

"I don't want to be a catcher."

"It looks painful so I don't want to either."

"Okaaaay, then I will!"

"Are only girls brave here?"

After about 30 balls, Ashino tilted his neck and started spinning his right arm like Sikorski. That's when I finally realized, that this person, Ashino Seiji, had lost the qualities needed for being a pitcher and would not return to the mound. He had been changed (CONVERT) to a first baseman.

"You can't throw anymore, right?"

"Yeah, I probably can't."

"... That sucks." (t/n, also: I feel horrible)

"I told you it's not your fault."

"But you know."

After we played a lot with the kids, we pushed the empty cart back to Patisserie-Kasai with heavy steps, looking more like two shady people than Santa Claus. With the cakes that we took to the orphanage, they'll be able to have a sweet Christmas Eve.

"Shibuya, here you are."

"Huh?"

Ashino pressed against me an orange and white Miffy envelope. Orange again?

"What's this?"

"Your pay for the job. It's what Sato-chan was going to get."

"Ah, the cosplay payment, huh? ... Wait, wait this is too much. Didn't you make a mistake?"

I tried to return it quickly to him, holding the envelope between my index and middle finger. Someone must have certainly made a mistake. It was the pay for two, two people.

"It's too much."

"No, you're also getting my part."

"Why? Why am I getting your pay too?"

"Because I've been thinking for the past two years, that I wanted to say thank you to Shibuya somehow."

"Did I do something two years ago to deserve Ashino's gratitude?"

"It was the change (CONVERT)."

The light of the moon shining above made the steel of the cart shine dimly. Thin clouds were carried away by the wind. At this point, it would not start to rain or snow. Sorry for those who wanted a white Christmas, but for us, people who love baseball all year round, it's best if it doesn't snow late at night.

"Why would you thank me for that? Are you being sarcastic? Do you resent me?"

"You're wrong."

Ashino started to push the cart faster, and I followed after him the best I could.

"... Of course, when the doctor said I wouldn't be able to be a pitcher anymore, my heart sank. But you know? I was also a little happy."

He was happy about his shoulder giving up? Did he get whipped cream in his brain?

In front of the popular arcade, Ashino Seiji raised his voice. It echoed against the building's wall and the ground, his words surrounded my whole body.

"You were right. You were right when you said that my elbow would start to hurt if I kept lowering it, that my shoulder would give up. That the loose shoulder was a ticking bomb, that I had to rotate it when I practiced. You were absolutely right about everything that you said."

"And why are you happy about that? Wasn't that bad luck for you?"

"... But no one, not my teachers nor my parents, there wasn't anyone who paid attention to me. You were the only one who was watching me attentively, right?"

Before the half opened store shutters, Santa Claus had changed in these past two years.

"... I wasn't very good in the games, and it's not like people were hoping that I'd be a star or anything. Besides, two years ago I was always mean and didn't want to get to know anyone. Shibuya, you were catcher number 2, Ashino Seiji's catcher. And the proof of that is that you were always looking at me attentively, right?"

I stopped using my right hand to avoid the place where a blood blister had formed.

"Thank you."

I couldn't lift my face that was looking down. Because after all, was I really watching over Ashino with such objective eyes? Or could it be that I was simply trying to feel better about myself by pointing out his shortcomings? It was painful to be confronted with the rash, childish things I did when I was younger.

I grabbed the envelope that I could no longer accept with my dusty palm in silence.

"Ashino-san."

I stood there for a second facing him, and to make sure that I wouldn't be keeping it, I thought of something that had nothing to do with the shop.

"What is it?"

"What time do the children go to sleep?"

"I don't know. In the past they used to turn the lights off at 9."

"There was a boy that said he wanted to be a pitcher like Se-chan, right?"

"Flattering, huh? There was also a girl who said she wanted to be like you."

"Yeah, a girl too."

I hurried to a shop, all dressed like that, and put the money that I had gotten for the job and the Yukichi Fukuzawa on the counter.

"Can you wrap them as Christmas presents? A glove and ball for elementary school students, the maker is..."

I didn't need any explanations about the goods. That's because I would pass by the sports equipment shop every day.

When I finally arrived at my home's entrance, my analog G-shock ruthlessly marked it was half past nine. My exhausted body felt like stone. I just wanted to get into the ofuro and go to bed.

"Yuu-chan."

But of course I wasn't going to be able to.

Jennifer was making a daunting pose at the door.

"... I'm home."

"You're just going to say: I'm home?"

"Here, the cake you asked me to get from Kasai-san."

"To what Kasai-san did you go? Niigata? Kobe? Hokkaido? I only asked you to go buy something at the shopping district and you think it was right to make me wait for five hours?"

With an angry look on her face, my mom used her foot so that the loud dogs wouldn't come out.

"Thanks to that MAMA had to eat with her son's guest and watch TV with her son's guest and play games with her son's guest. You put me in a pinch but it was fun in the end."

"Ah, Mu-Murata."

"We were waiting for the cake~!"

I heard the voice from my friend coming from the living room. Even if he doesn't know someone, he's pretty carefree about it.

"Since you made us wait till this hour to get dessert, he asked to spend the night here."

"... Is it really that late?"

"So?"

Mom who didn't know about the circumstances of her son's Santa part-time job, and how he could barely move, extended her hand.

"Where's the change?"

"Ah."

There was no change left. I had used it all. The few coins that I had left I had put next to the roots of the Christmas tree. The only thing that I had left was a wrinkled receipt from Minami Sports in my left pocket. Not being able to think about a good excuse, I was in trouble so I bowed.

"Uh... I... I... drop... dropped... it."

"What? You dropped it!? Since you only bought the cake you were supposed to have another 5000 yen left. Oh, Yuu chan! You lost too much money."

As if a soccer ball was about to hit her head, she grabbed her forehead with one hand and looked up to the sky searching for God. But she could only see the sports equipment hanging.

"Well, it's okay now. Hurry up and get into the ofuro. And then, go secure your pieces of chicken before PAPA comes back. Uma-chan loves fried chicken. He can eat endless amounts of it!"

As my mom's aura disappeared into the kitchen, the boy enjoying his friend's house had the two dogs by his side like samurais and looked like a feudal lord.

"... Huh?"

I finally was able to undo my shoes.

"Huh? It looks like something good happened to you."

"Not at all. Instead I got stuck doing some hard manual work. Can you believe that? Since Sato-chan got the flu and the job couldn't be done by only one Santa."

"Sato-chan..? You mean the character for the pharmacy?... I can't believe the rabbit didn't get vaccinated."

"What? Sato-chan is an elephant!" (pun: Satou-san wa zou da zou!)

A cold wind blew.

The one who said that was the man who had definitely inherited my father's sense of humor, Shibuya Shouri, who was standing at the door.

He was dressed in a bright red COSTUME from head to toes.

Furthermore, since it seemed to have been a side-show for an end of the year party, he was was dressed as a Bunny Santa-chan in a mini-skirt.

"Sho, Shouri... you wore that on the train while coming back home?"

And so it seems, that big brother changed into Yukie late at night.

Change (CONVERT)■

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