Hi! It’s Fujimura Ren, and I just turned ten!
Sakuragi-kun was sick on the day of my party—which was kind of a bummer—but lately we’ve been staying after practice every week.
He says it’s still to show me things, but nowadays it’s kinda felt more like just… hanging out with a friend.
But, like, a friend who’salsoreally good at baseball and takes “hanging out” to mean “more practice”.
“Again,” Sakuragi-kun says and throws me the ball. He’s started doing overhand, so I must be getting better, right?
I still fumble sometimes, though.
Like… now.
The ball bounces off my mitt and rolls towards Sakuragi-kun.
“You’re still looking at my hand, not the ball,” he says, picking it up again.
“No, I’m not!”
“Then catch it.”
He tosses it again.
I catch it this time, and he smiles at me.
“Good!” he says.
I toss it back to him—overhand, so I feel like a real player for a bit.
He catches it easily.
“Again.”
He throws it a little faster this time.
I’m ready for it—
—and it still pops right out of my mitt.
“You dropped it,” he says.
“I had it and then it slipped out of my glove!”
“Yeah, that’s called ‘dropping it’,” he grins.
“Shut up!”
“How about we take a break for a bit,” he laughs.
“Good idea.”
I immediately drop onto the dirt, then grab the baseball so he can’t change his mind.
He plops down a few feet away from me and we just kind of… sit there.
He looks around the park.
I poke the ground.
I really wish we could talk more, but whenever I try, he just freezes up and brings things back to—
“You almost had that one.”
…baseball.
“I did have that one,” I say. “It just… didn’t stay.”
“That’s kind of an important part.”
“I know.”
He doesn’t have a response to that, apparently, so we just…
…sit there again.
“Alright,” he says after a minute, pushing himself back up. “Break’s over.”
“It’s been like two seconds!” I laugh.
I toss the ball back to him without getting up.
He scowls at me but doesn’t push harder.
Sakuragi-kun’s usually pretty quiet, so it’s kinda nice that he gets a little bossy with me.
“…I’m so glad your mom’s the real coach instead of you,” I say after a bit.
“Hey!” he snaps back. “I’ll get there someday!”
“Yeah? You want to go pro?”
Sakuragi-kun stares at the baseball while he thinks.
“…I’m… actually not sure,” he says eventually. “I’ve definitely thought about it. And I always loved going to see Mom’s games, but… that makes it kind of scary, too?”
I nod.
I’ve seen her at the hot springs’ clinic enough times by now to get what Sakuragi-kun means.
He keeps staring at the baseball, turning it over and over in his hands like there’s a message on it only he can see.
Finally, he shakes his head.
“Right,” he says. “Break’s definitely over now. Time for more practice.”
“But I’m tiiiirrrrredddd,” I say and flop fully back onto the field. My clothes are gonna be filthy, but it’s still fun.
Sakuragi-kun grits his teeth and takes a deep breath.
Looks at the ball again then back to me.
“Okay… then… how about you keep slacking off—”
“Resting.”
“—while I show you a couple things?”
I sit up and lean back against my hands.
“Sure!” I say, smiling.
He nods once and walks a few steps out.
Puts on his “serious Sakuragi” face.
“Okay, so don’t just throw it,” he says. “Step first. Here—hold your glove up.”
My eyes go wide a little, but I obey.
Rest over, I guess.
“Right there,” he says. “Don’t move it.”
He plants his foot a little harder than necessary to show it.
“Great. Now—like this,” he says, and—
The ball snaps into my glove with a sharp thwack that makes me jump.
“Great!” he says. “Now, did you see—”
He pauses.
“…Fujimura-kun.”
“Hm?”
“Your eyes are closed.”
“Oh. I guess they are.”
I blink them open and ungrit my teeth.
Sakuragi-kun sighs.
“Did you see any of that?” he asks.
“I saw you throw it!” I say. “But… nothing after that.”
Sakuragi-kun wipes his hand on his face.
“I guess that is the important part, but still.”
“Do you want to… show me again?”
“Are you gonna keep your eyes open this time?”
“Yes. I will. Promise.”
He doesn’t look convinced, but he takes his position anyway.
I toss the ball back to him.
“Okay,” he says. “Same thing.”
I lift my glove again.
I try reeeally hard to focus.
Eyes on the ball, and—
Thwack.
“You closed your eyes again!”
“…Maybe a little.”
“Fujimura-kun!”
“I’m sorry! It just flies so fast!”
Sakuragi-kun scoffs. “This is nothing compared to what a professional could do.”
“I wouldn’t play with a professional,” I say, but I can tell he’s already thinking about something else.
“…Okay,” he says finally. “Clearly me throwing it to you isn’t working,” he says. “How about I throw at…”
He looks around.
“…that tree over there.”
I squint at the tree he points to.
“Are you sure?” I ask. “It’s pretty far away.”
“Just watch and learn,” he grins at me.
“Watching and learning,” I deadpan.
Sakuragi-kun goes through the same steps as before, but slower this time. Slow enough that I actually can follow each one.
“First, set your feet,” he says and does so.
“Then step…”
“…Turn…”
“…and—”
A second later the ball is already half the park away—
Did it come at me that fast?!
—and hits the tree squarely in the trunk with a loud crack.
He turns back at me with a self-satisfied grin.
I roll my eyes.
“Show-off,” I say.
“Doesn’t mean you’re not impressed!”
“Well… maybe a little,” I admit.
The dork actually waggles his eyebrows at me before jogging over to the tree.
He bends over and picks up the ball—
—then turns back toward me.
For a second, I think he’s just gonna toss it back.
Then he’s grinning again, and…
Oh no.
He’s gonna show off again.
“Fujimura-kun! Put your glove back up!” he calls to me.
“Do I have to?” I call back.
“Just do it!” he laughs.
I dutifully comply, and—
He starts running at me full-speed.
While… keeping his eyes on me?
His face is in ‘serious Sakuragi’ mode again, except… sillier? Like he’s trying to imitate some action hero he saw, but with the face of a ten-year-old.
I’d laugh if I wasn’t worried.
“Watch out!” I shout, and—
He does a running leap over the edge of the diamond, but his foot lands weird on the gravel and instead of pushing off it, his foot slides backwards out from under him.
He’s still going too fast to stop, and there’s an awful scrrrch sound as he slides to a stop on his hands and knees.
“…Ow.”
I’m already running.
“Wait—don’t touch it!” I yell.
He pushes himself up anyway, clapping the dirt off his hands and then brushing at his knee, and—
“Stop!” I yell as I reach him. Then grab his wrist before he can do any more damage.
“I’m fine,” he says.
“You’re not fine!” I say, leaning over to examine the wound.
The skin’s scraped open in a wide patch, dirt ground into it, and there’s already blood running down his shin.
“That’s annoying,” he mutters.
“That’s going to get infected,” I say.
“It’s just a scrape.”
“What do you think a scrape is, Sakuragi? It’s a hole in your skin. That’s how germs get in!”
I look down.
The blood is even further down his leg now, and I gasp.
They use disinfecting wipes for this kind of thing at the clinic, but there are none of those at the park.
Uhhh—
Uhhhhhh—
I pull up the hem of my shirt and drop to my knees.
“What are you doing?!” he says and he sounds as panicked as I feel.
“Just hold still,” I say as I start dabbing at his left knee.
“Ow! What are you—”
“Hold still!”
“Stop!” he yells.
He tries to pull me up, but I pull my arm away.
“Would you just let me help you?” I say, and I can feel my eyes watering.
That seems to get his attention, and he lets go of me.
I fail to blink away my tears and the back of my hand is dirty from lying in the dirt earlier—great job there, Fujimura.
I end up awkwardly wiping them away with my wrist, and I can at least see again.
I get back to cleaning Sakuragi’s knees as best I can. He flinches every time I touch them, but he’s stopped trying to push me away, at least.
After a few minutes, the wiping isn’t working anymore, and all I’m left is a friend with half-dirty knees and me with a half-ruined shirt. What a pair.
“This isn’t working,” I say. “We need to wash it properly.”
I grab his wrist again and start pulling.
“Hey! Where are we going?”
“My house.”
“What? But why—”
“My house is 10 minutes away,” I say. “Is yours closer?”
He blinks, then shakes his head.
“…No.”
“Then come on.”
He hesitates but follows.
I notice he’s limping a bit, so I slow to match his speed.
[4/10/2026 Edit: reformatted name]