#Eekburg Billiards

[cmlbcommish]

CMLB:  Saskatchewan Skates vs. Eekburg Billiards, S1D1, 4

Primed and ready. The Saskatchewan Skates stand on the field, taking in the atmosphere of the stadium.

They’re not a hugely followed league, especially for being so new, but Haruta was honestly not expecting so many people to show up. She shifts her feet nervously and Eli, who is standing next to her, extends an arm and rubs her upper back. Haruta looks at him and he beams at her, having the time of his life out here on the field.

It’s absolutely unfair how Eli’s positive attitude affects her so much. She smiles hesitantly back at him and he is about to say something when a bit of microphone feedback rings out across the stadium.

Everyone looks in the direction of the sound. It’s Nagomi and Parker. Nagomi is fiddling with the microphone a little bit before she starts her announcement.

“Greetings!’ Echoes her voice across the stadium. “I’m Nagomi Seraph, and this is my Minor Canadian Blaseball League, or CMLB for short.” There is a polite applause from the spectators.

“For further introductions, this is Parker.” She gestures to Parker, who waves at the crowd. “He serves as my co-commissioner. Now that introductions are aside, this is our first game of the season, featuring the Saskatchewan Skates vs. the Eekburg Billiards!” More applause.

A different announcer lists off all the starting rosters for the teams. The Skates have Shirai Jaylee pitching today, while the Billiards have Julio Glass on the mound. 

Haruta sits next to Riley in the dugout, looking curiously out at the game. After a few outs, Riley speaks.

“We should have put me in first.” He states, his arms crossed. “Glass is their best pitcher, I would have had the best chance.” 

“Uh, have you been… studying the other teams?” Haruta asks. “Of course I have.” Riley sniffs disdainfully. “We’ll never get anywhere without some sort of strategy.” 

Haruta stares at him for a few seconds before the sound of a bat cracking can be heard from the field. The Skates fans in the stadium boo as the Billiards batter hits a home run, scoring two. 

Riley rolls his eyes as the player showboats around the bases.

“That's Chad James.” He says. “He’s played minor leagues before. The only reason he hasn’t made it up to the major leagues is because of his bad attitude. Let’s just hope that an early home run makes him cocky and he doesn’t hit any other balls.”

Evidently, Riley knew what he was talking about. The rest of the game is pretty much small ball. Some good base hits and only runners scoring, no fancy home runs. 

As the game went on, Haruta noticed Riley getting increasingly more irritated with Shirai’s pitching ability. He never said anything to Shirai herself between the innings, but Haruta saw how much he was keeping it in.

It all comes to a head in the ninth inning. Ryuji Krueger hits a nice triple to score Chad James, tying the score at 5-5. Riley jumps out of his seat, walking briskly over to Eli.

“Put me in.” He says, arms crossed. “Let me close out the inning so they don’t get up on us.” 

Eli looks… Unconcerned, with Riley’s posturing. “Nah, it's fine. It's literally the first game, no need to be so serious about it.” 

“We could win this game. Put me in so they don’t score any more. We have enough batting power to outscore them.” 

“Riley, it’s fine.” Eli rests a hand on his shoulder. Riley aggressively shakes the hand off and stalks off to the dressing room. 

Eli tilts his head as Haruta walks over to him. “What’s his deal? Something to prove?”

It isn’t until he says that, that Haruta realizes. “Oh.. Probably? He seemed really invested in the game.” Eli clicks his tongue. “He better get that under check. I don’t want him causing a fuss, especially cuz he’s one of the newbies. ‘Gomi’ll have his ass if he causes shit.”

That’s another thing. “I’ll talk to him?” Haruta suggests, but Eli shakes his head. “Let him steam til the game is over. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

They end up winning the game with a nice home run from King, starting off a rally in the ninth by Wyatt Morse, Tyler Marijuana, and Oli Mueller.

Final Score, 5-8 Skates.

When the rest of the team walk into the dressing room, Riley stands up immediately. He walks over to stand in front of Eli, still tense. Everyone is wary, he’s putting off a lot of aggressive energy for being on the winning team.

“I have invested interest in this team winning.” Riley starts. “I have figured out strategies that will beat out all other teams. I will be strategizing and I expect that we will use some of them.” 

Eli clicks his tongue. “And why would I listen to the newbie posturing over his team captain?” Eli’s posture is relaxed, nonchalant. Haruta has no idea how he can act that way in this kind of situation. “You know we won right? We won our first game of the season. This isn’t the time to be worried about strategy.”

“Unlike the rest of you, I have things riding on my success.” Riley sniffs. He turns away from Eli.

Something about that really sticks in Haruta’s brain, and before she realizes it, she blurts out a retort.

“What? Because you’re a stats nerd you think none of us are capable?” It's not a very Haruta statement, Eli and some of the rest of the Skates look at her in surprise. Riley looks over at her in surprise too, obviously not expecting that kind of response, but he is immediately back on the offensive. “I hold myself to a higher standard than most people, yes. If the rest of the season continues on like this first game? There's no hope here.”

Haruta can feel herself getting a bit heated. “This isn’t the ILB! It's supposed to be fun!”

Riley is quiet for a few seconds, before he walks slowly over to Haruta and looks her directly in the eyes. “That’s exactly what Jaylen said back in Season 1. Look where it got her.”

Haruta breaks eye contact, shaking her head. “This isn’t about Jaylen! It’s about you!” She pokes Riley in the chest. “This league is about those people who want to play blaseball for the love of the game! Despite what happened to the ILB.” 

“I can’t forget what happened to her!” He hisses, “She died! They incinerated her!”

“They incinerated Sebastian twice!” Haruta yells. “Since you want to make this a fucking family issue! They alternated him and then he went up in flames twice! Don’t forget the stuff that's gone on with Jess either!” 

Riley at least has the heart to look a bit apologetic, right before they’re both doused with water. 

Haruta shrieks a little, frantically wiping water out of her eyes, Riley doing the same. They both look over to see King standing with a water cooler held over xer shoulder as Parker gives them a glare.

“Are you both done?” Parker says. In the face of authority, Haruta crumbles, nodding her head frantically. Riley nods once, and Parker sighs.

“You’re both lucky I’m not gonna tell Nagomi about this.” He massages the bridge of his nose. “I wasn’t expecting this from the two of you, especially Haruta.”

Haruta looks down at her feet, avoiding the gaze of everyone. She feels so embarrassed by her outburst now that the consequences are setting in.

But, Riley steps in to defend her. “It’s my fault, I was the one who started the argument with my bad attitude. I’ll be working on it.” 

“You better.” Parker hands them both a towel. “I’m only mildly sorry about the water. Seems like you both needed to cool off.” 

Riley squints at him. “Was that a pun.” To which Parker grins. 

“Now, who’s to say?” After making sure everyone is alright, Parker leaves the room.

As the rest of the Skates filter out, Riley and Haruta end up being the last two left. Haruta’s fingers had been shaking with anxiety the whole time she was packing up.  

She’s crouching next to her bag on the floor when Riley comes down to crouch next to her. He makes sure that she realizes he is there before he speaks.

“I’m sorry, Haruta.” 

She looks at him questioningly, a little wary. “I’ve been on edge today, and I believe I ended up taking it out on you. I didn’t mean for it to turn out like this.” 

Haruta breathes out a sigh, some of her anxiety lessening when she realizes that Riley is still willing to talk to her. She stands up, shouldering her bag, and Riley rises next to her.

“I’ll forgive you, on one condition.” She says, and Riley tilts his head.

“Name your condition.”

Haruta extends her arms in a hugging motion. “Bring it in. It's hug time.” 

“I.. what?” Riley looks at her, baffled. 

“You upset me, and I like hugs so you’re gonna hug me so I feel better.” She explains wiggling her fingers a bit.

“That is a weird condition, but alright?” Riley steps into her embrace. 

In Haruta’s opinion, Riley is the perfect hugging height. She can comfortably rest her head on his shoulder as they hug, and the longer she doesn’t make a move to let go, the more he relaxes into her hold.

“If you feel bad in the future, I can hug you.” Haruta offers. “I used to have to hug someone a lot whenever things happened to Jess or Seb.” 

Riley sighs shakily. “Maybe that’s why you seem like you’ve adjusted. Better than I have, at least.”

Haruta lets him muse on that instead of making a comment, squeezing him a bit tighter.

They eventually stop hugging. “It wasn’t weird that we hugged for so long, was it?” Haruta says nervously as they start walking towards the exit for the stadium. “I’m used to long hugs.” 

Riley hums. “It's been a long time since I’ve been hugged. It’s fine, it was nice.”

They reach the entrance. The drivers are waiting for the both of them. Haruta waves goodbye to Riley and steps out into the parking lot, until she hears Riley shout her name.

She looks back questioningly, as Riley does a light jog to catch up to her.

He abruptly sticks out a hand at her. “I think we got off to a bad start so… My name is Riley Hotdogfingers, I really do like playing blaseball, it feels like it's in my blood . Can we be friends?” 

Haruta smiles at him, accepting the handshake. “I’m Haruta Telephone, I’d like to improve my pitching because I love playing this splort as well. I would be honoured to be your friend.” 

For the first time, Haruta sees Riley smile.