07:
The city landscape, with its high rises and smog, eventually gave way to lush
country side and fresh crisp air. Snow-capped mountains dotted the horizon
beneath clear azure skies while pavement and asphalt had given way to meadows
filled with green grass and beautiful flowers. A river or lake (one couldn’t
tell with how fast the train was going) sparkled between the trees, giving the
woodland area a somewhat ethereal appeal. Hardly many cars passed by now and
the few people they saw stopped to wave at the train that seemed so
technologically advanced in such a simple setting. Yuuri could make out a few
houses in the middle of the dense woods – as if built to be hidden from prying
eyes. Some of them were modern two-story houses or bungalows, whereas most
looked like they hadn’t changed since the early Meiji era. He really had no
idea what part of Japan they were in now. He had never been this far from home
before…well there was the vacation they had taken to Hokkaido but he doubted he
had ever traveled more than twenty miles from the city.
According to the rumors, The Royals training camp was a ‘top secret’ facility
and if these surroundings were any indication, Yuuri knew that the stories were
definitely true. They seemed to be traveling to the middle of nowhere. He
wondered if Wolfram knew where they were since Gwendal was his brother and he
could easily know any and all information about the camp. But a quick glance at
the blond confirmed his worst fears; Wolfram still had his headphones on and
was reading a baseball magazine with no care for the boy sitting right next to
him.
Yuuri gave a heavy sigh and squirmed in his seat, wondering if Wolfram was
really never going to speak to him for the rest of the trip. It had been an
hour since the journey started and so far no conversation had transpired
between them. Even through a quick lunch that had been served to the travelers,
Yuuri had tried to get the blond to talk but Wolfram had refused to give in. It
really was beginning to get aggravating. At some point, Yuuri had even wished
he could change seats with someone else that was more willing to talk to him.
Being this silent for so long was torture.
It’s not as if I asked him to sit with me, he thought with a grumble. I
don’t know what I did to him and he’s been acting like I have a disease or
something.
He stole another glance at Wolfram before allowing his gaze to drift towards
the player on the magazine cover. Yuuri’s eyes widened and before he could stop
himself, he jabbed it gently.
“Alford Makina, right? The leading hitter in the Eastern League. He’s
definitely going to get the MVP award this year.”
He wasn’t really expecting Wolfram to answer him and prepared himself for
another cold reception, but to his surprise, the blond lowered the magazine to
stare blankly at Yuuri for a second. The look soon turned to one of faint
amusement with a smirk appearing on the ‘pretty’ face.
“No, he’s not winning it this year,” Wolfram replied coolly. “Yuka Kudo of the
Mariners will win.”
“Yuka Kudo?!” Yuuri cried out in disbelief. “Yuka Kudo only has 121 hits, at
least the last time I checked. And he’s not…”
“The last time you checked,” Wolfram corrected as he lowered the magazine to
point at the page of stats he had been studying diligently. “As of today,
Kudo’s leading Makina by two hits.”
“Pfft,” Yuuri replied with a light snort. “What’s two hits? Makina will take
over and…”
“Crush the competition!” came the enthusiastic cry from the seat in front of
them. Wolfram and Yuuri blinked in surprise as a brown-haired boy who had risen
to kneel on his seat, peered at them over the headrest. “Makina’s the best
player this side of Japan and you can quote me on that one. Yoichiro
Yoshikawa’s the name. Nice to meet you!”
“Eh…”
“Makina my ass,” came another response, this time from the young man sitting
next to Yoichiro. He was just as blond as Wolfram but with much longer hair
that was tied in a ponytail. He looked like he was in college and was quite
handsome – something that wasn’t lost on both boys still seated. “We all know
that the true MVP is Akemi Omoda from the Tigers.” At the gasp of shock from
the other boys, he raised his hand to state his case. “We all know that he was
denied with his injury earlier this season or else he would have killed the
competition by now.”
“Would have is the keyword here, Keiichi!” Yoichiro retorted. “Omoda’s
not even playing this year!”
“But he would have…”
“But he’s not!”
“Anyway!” Yuuri interrupted with a wave of his hands. He had a feeling that the
two boys would continue to argue if no one stopped them. “Omoda’s a good player
but he suffered the injury so he’s out of the running. In other words, we have
Makina and Kudo left.”
“And I still say Kudo’s winning it,” Wolfram muttered before hiding his face
behind the magazine again.
The three boys eyed the magazine for a moment before Yoichiro cupped a hand
around his mouth to whisper to Yuuri. “What’s wrong with him?”
The dark-haired boy gave a sheepish laugh. “He’s always like that. It’s just in
his nature.”
“Say…everyone’s saying you two might be…you know…a couple,” Keiichi said, his
blue eyes sparkling with interest. “Is it true?”
“Wha…what?!” Yuuri failed to hear the low groan from Wolfram.
“The senior players were laughing about it,” Yoichiro explained with a wave of
his hand. “I mean, it’s not like I have a problem with it…if you two are…”
“We’re not anything!” Yuuri cut in quickly. Good grief! The last thing he
needed was for anyone to assume he was gay – not that there was anything wrong
with it.
Yeah, so explain all those dreams, why don’t you, Shibuya?
He blushed and shook his head rapidly, hoping the boys wouldn’t notice the look
and think otherwise. However, Keiichi didn’t seem ready to give it up just yet.
He leaned even closer, his eyes now filled with mischief.
“So if you’re not a couple, what are you then?”
“Nothing,” Yuuri mumbled, feeling incredibly hot beneath the collar. Why wasn’t
Wolfram helping him out with this mess? Did he really want people to think they
were an item?!
“Friends maybe,” Yoichiro said with a nod, nudging Keiichi gently. “Just leave
them alone already. Don’t mind him,” he added looking at Yuuri with a small
smile. “He just likes to tease people a lot. He’s into both guys and girls by
the way.”
“Oh phooey,” Keiichi said with a laugh. “You just had to give away my secret,
didn’t you?”
Yuuri’s jaw was somewhere on the floor while Wolfram’s eyes had widened behind
the safety of his magazine. If anyone was paying much attention they would have
noticed that his grip had tightened considerably.
“I’m just telling you that so you guys don’t feel uncomfortable about it,”
Yoichiro continued, now smiling broadly as if he had suggested the greatest
thing in the world. “Just don’t make it too obvious. You don’t want the senior
players getting their hands on you. It can be brutal.”
Yuuri finally found his voice and tried to explain again. “But we’re not…”
“No use denying it,” Keiichi said, reaching out to tap Yuuri’s shoulder gently.
“It’s in your aura.”
In my what?!
“When two people exude the same aura,” Keiichi was saying while Yoichiro rolled
his eyes as if saying ‘here we go again’, “They give off a warm orange glow.
While your aura’s spiking right now – confusion and anger I sense – when you
two were asleep, it was a warm soothing blue, the perfect shade for
companionship.”
Yuuri gave a breathless squeak. He wanted to deny it all again but the sudden
jerk of the train had them all giving small cries of surprise.
“Everyone sit down and buckle up!” Coach Sato yelled from the front of the
cabin. “We’re about to disembark!”
“Finally!” Yoichiro cried out in relief. “I thought this journey would never
end!”
Yuuri and Wolfram obediently did as they were told as the sounds of everyone in
the cabin shifting and buckling seat belts filled the air. Two coaches were
sent to inspect each person’s seat to make sure no one had disobeyed them and
Yuuri was beginning to feel that this camp was going to be like a military
institution with the way things were going.
“Why are you trembling?” Wolfram asked quietly. His gaze was fixed on the
headrest before him, his headphones and magazines having been packed away. “You
can’t tell me you’re afraid.”
“No, I’m not,” Yuuri replied quickly, although his cheeks were still flushed
with color and his heartbeat hadn’t stopped racing so fast. Who was he kidding?
He was scared and nervous! He had never been this far from home and he
was going to be in a place where he hardly knew anyone. There would be no
Murata waiting for him once he got off the train neither would he have the
familiar faces of his teammates to look forward to. He hated to admit he was
already feeling homesick and he swallowed the heavy lump in his throat, trying
to stop the ridiculous sting of unshed tears that had filled his eyes.
Oh great. Just fantastic. Way to go, Shibuya. Start bawling like a baby in
front of everyone, okay?! And you can bet Wolfram would eat up this moment and
laugh like crazy at me being such a wi…eh?
His eyes widened as he felt the gentle squeeze on his hand. He glanced towards
it, his heart leaping with an unexplainable emotion as he saw the paler hand
upon his.
You’ll be fine, wimp, Wolfram sent without looking at him. Now suck
it up for crying out loud. You’re embarrassing me.
He gave Yuuri’s hand another gentle squeeze before withdrawing his quickly.
Yuuri could still feel his hand tingling from the warm touch and he would have
grinned at the sight of Wolfram’s pink cheeks even though the blond was doing
his best to scowl, if he still wasn’t too busy being stunned at the kind
gesture. It wasn’t surprising to find that he was feeling much better now. It
felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he knew he had
Wolfram to thank for that.
He wondered if one could give a mental hug and for a brief moment, entertained
the idea of wrapping his arms around Wolfram in an embrace. But deciding that
such a thing was not possible, he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair
to relax. However, he failed to notice that Wolfram had jerked a little at the
sudden warmth that had now filled his body; neither did Yuuri get to see the
small smile of gratitude that his mental embrace had finally elicited.
“Welcome to the Royals Camp! For the next two weeks you will be trained and
conditioned to become the best baseball players that Japan has ever produced! I
am the head coach of this establishment and I simply go by the name of Coach
Adelbert! Any other nickname you might have for me, I would rather you keep it
to yourself! I also hope you kept any delusions of having ‘fun’ over here back
home! This is not a resort neither will you be given a chance to act like
hooligans! We are located in the mountains for a reason, gentlemen! Mind, body
and spirit will become one by the time we are through here! You have arrived as
boys but you will leave as men, I’ll make sure of it!”
Someone snickered in the line and Coach Adelbert, a towering blond man, who
looked like he could belong in a boxing ring, trained a thunderous glare in the
direction the sound had come from.
“Many of you have come here for your dreams and for a chance to become
professional players…well! Let me tell you a little secret. Out of the whole
lot of you, only less than ten percent will make it to the Majors! The rest of
you can go back to playing b-ball, junior league or hitting sticks in your
backyards at home!”
The gasps of shock this news drew from the players brought a smirk to
Adelbert’s visage. He had gotten their attention now.
“At the moment, Coach Ishida is passing along sheets with your daily schedules
as well as rules and regulations of the camp! Failure to comply with any of
them or lateness to any of the programs assigned and delegated will be met with
strict disciplinary action! Read them! Study them! Memorize them till the point
that you can recite it in your sleep when asked!”
He waited for the players to settle down with the pamphlets in their hands
before blowing his whistle to get their attention again.
“Room assignments…!”
This started another murmur and Adelbert blew his whistle again, getting quite
annoyed with the constant interruption. “It’s almost ninety-degrees out here,
boys,” he began coolly. “I can leave you all standing out here until I’m
satisfied that my words are sinking into your thick skulls or you keep quiet
until I’m through!”
That had the boys doing as they were told. With a curt nod, Adelbert continued
again. “Sleeping arrangements are going to be done according to numbers! There
are two boxes up here! You will form two lines and pick a number from only one
of them. Players with matching numbers, when called, will be roommates. There
will be no negotiations, no feigning of some allergic reaction to your
roommate, neither will excuses regarding your religion not allowing you to
sleep with others be tolerated!”
Yuuri, although sweating like a pig and wishing he could inside by now, had to
stifle a chuckle at that. He glanced at Wolfram and noticed that the blond’s
lips were twitching a little as if trying to hold back a laugh as well.
Ah, what I would do to see him smile for me.
Blushing furiously, he struggled to focus on the burly man before them, hoping
and praying that Wolfram hadn’t heard that particular thought. However, he had
much to worry about regarding sleeping arrangements. He had assumed that they
would all sleep in one long room like a dormitory but apparently, they were to
be assigned two boys to a room.
Please don’t let me get anyone dumb or scary.
Please don’t let me be in a room with someone stupid, boring or annoying.
“FORM YOUR LINES!” Adelbert roared and like clockwork mice, the players hurried
to do as they were told, having to drop their heavy bags on the ground in order
to move quickly.
“Good luck,” came the husky whisper against Yuuri’s ear that had him yelping in
surprise. He spun around quickly, coming face-to-face with Keiichi’s smiling
visage.
“Keii…!”
“Oooh, I think your boyfriend’s jealous of us,” the blond continued with a
smirk causing Yuuri to turn quickly towards the other line. He barely caught
sight of the angry look on Wolfram’s visage before he turned away to stick his
hand into the box.
Why’s he mad at me?! I didn’t do anything!
He opened the small folded piece of paper. “Number 35.”
“Oh what a shame,” Keiichi pouted. “I’m number 23. With any luck I’ll be
rooming with that tight ass Yoichiro.”
Yuuri didn’t mind rooming with either Yoichiro or Keiichi now that he thought
about it. They both seemed nice enough and besides…
What if you end up rooming with Wolfram?
No way, he thought. We wouldn’t be able to stand each other…
But what about the way he held you in the train? That’s not something someone
who hates you would do…is it?
Yes, but…
“NUMBERS 35 STEP UP PLEASE!”
He started and forced his feet to move, afraid to look in the other direction
for fear that he’ll get to be with some older college player who would use him
as a punching bag every other night…
“Figures,” came the cool voice that had Yuuri lifting his head quickly, eyes
wide with amazement (joy!) at who was standing beside him. “I just had
to get a wimp like you, didn’t I?”
Yuuri grinned. He couldn’t help it. He was too happy he hadn’t gotten someone
he couldn’t stand or didn’t know. So yes, he didn’t really know Wolfram either
(except in another life apparently) but it was better than being stuck with a
complete stranger.
“Here are your keys,” Coach Chronos, one of the junior coaches, said as he held
up the silver objects. Wolfram was quick to snatch them from his fingers
causing Yuuri to blink at the sudden need to be the first to the room. Did
Wolfram know something that he didn’t?
“Ah, if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to your rooms now. Everyone follow me
please!” Chronos ordered as he began to lead the way up a slope and away from
the open field they had been sent to on arrival.
As they left, Coach Adelbert watched them warily especially the two young men
that had been entrusted to his care.
So you finally sent your brother here, eh, Gwendal? What were you hoping I’d
do? Baby sit him for you? And why do you want me to keep an eye on the
dark-haired one? What’s he to you?
Shaking his head slowly, he decided he’d deal with that particular issue at a
much later date. Right now, he had forty-eight other young men to take care of
and he was determined to make the camp program this year, a very successful
one.
The layout of the camp grounds was not that complex. It was a large expanse of
land allocated to the facility and as the boys walked across the wide,
impeccable lawns, they could make out not one, but three baseball diamonds
at a distance. There was a regular-sized field and two smaller ones flanking
its sides. Beyond that was a rather intimidating stretch of woodland, which
Coach Chronos was quick to explain, contained well-marked trails for early
morning runs. There was a long low-rise building with the words ‘GYM’ written
on it. It was pretty much self-explanatory and according to Chronos, had just
about every equipment possible and other sports activities they could imagine.
There was a clinic beside it and adjacent to that, another long building which
housed the cafeteria.
They had to pass through a set of gates to enter the main sleeping quarters and
many of the boys gasped in awe at the well-tended lawns and gardens that
surrounded the two main buildings. Each building had four floors and as Chronos
called out their numbers, Wolfram and Yuuri discovered that they would be in
Building One.
“Second floor,” Yuuri mumbled as they tried to make their way past the other
players who were all but shoving them out of the way.
“Hey, watch it!” Wolfram cried out as someone tried to send him back down a
flight of stairs. With a scowl of irritation, he ‘accidentally’ swung out an
arm and sent the boy responsible tumbling backwards… which in turn caused a
mini-avalanche.
Yuuri glanced at the destruction and then at his companion with an unspoken
question in his eyes although they were alight with amusement
“What?” Wolfram replied with a shrug, feigning innocence. “My hand slipped.”
They finally reached the second floor – several boys had already found their
rooms and were already being rowdy from the sound of things – and Wolfram came
to a stop before their door.
“Just so you know,” he began as he inserted the key into the lock. “I get to be
on the bottom.”
As if struck with a blow, Yuuri froze on the spot, his entire being flushing
with heat at the flat statement from the blond.
I get to be…bottom??? What the hell…?!
A sudden image of Wolfram (the older one – in fact, it was becoming a bit hard
to differentiate between the two these days) writhing beneath him on silken
sheets had Yuuri fighting back a groan of reluctant desire.
Oh yes, Wolfram had been bottom lots of times…
“Get your mind out of the goddamn gutter, Yuuri,” came the sharp retort as
Wolfram slammed his bag on the floor jerking the other boy out of his daydream.
“I meant I get the bottom bunk!”
Yuuri turned a bright beet red as he stared at the bunk bed pushed against the
wall at the right side of the room. He coughed and shook his head rapidly
before stepping into the room and closing the door behind him.
“I knew that,” he muttered as he sat on the single chair and began to unzip his
bag, unable to look Wolfram in the face. Oh God, this is going to be
torture.
And this time, he failed to see the knowing smirk on his roommate’s visage.
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