Himari’s laughter slowly faded, though the glow in her eyes lingered.
Akaru looked down at his hands, almost half-expecting them to still be covered in light or wind or clouds. But they were just hands — trembling slightly, warm from the brush of something he couldn’t explain.
Before either of them could say more, a distant voice broke the stillness.
“Oi! You two shouldn’t be up there!”
Akaru turned. A figure was approaching from the lower slope of the hill, the sun behind him casting his outline in golden flame. As he drew closer, the silhouette became clearer — a tall boy, maybe a year or two older, with a dark bomber jacket slung lazily over his shoulders and a baseball cap turned backward.
He had the easy gait of someone who didn’t care about rules — or had simply broken too many to count.
“Himari?” he called again, this time more surprised than angry.
She blinked, sitting up straighter. “Oh… wait. Is that—?”
The boy reached them, stopping just short of the shade they sat beneath. His eyes scanned the scene — the way Himari leaned comfortably against Akaru, the quiet between them, and finally Akaru himself.
“Tch. Figures.” He gave a short, amused snort. “You’re Akaru, right?”
Akaru stood slowly, shoulders tensing. “Yeah. And you are?”
“Hajime. Hajime Kurosawa.” He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets. “We used to be on the same team… well, kind of.”
Akaru’s breath hitched. The name echoed in the back of his memory like a faded game announcement — Kurosawa at shortstop. Fast hands. Annoying smile. Always two steps ahead.
“You were on the Eagles,” Akaru said cautiously.
Hajime smirked. “So you do remember. Thought maybe you forgot us after you disappeared.”
Himari looked between the two boys. “Wait, you know each other?”
“We used to play baseball together,” Hajime said, not taking his eyes off Akaru. “Akaru here was a prodigy, in case you didn’t know. Until he got hit in the head trying to save a game no one could win.”
“That’s enough,” Akaru said quietly, but firmly.
Hajime raised an eyebrow. “Just saying. The legend’s back, and now he's sneaking off with girls on top of hills. Thought you swore off everything that reminded you of the sport.”
Akaru glanced at Himari — her eyes searching his face now with a quiet question.
He didn’t answer Hajime. Not yet.
But the past had clearly caught up.
And maybe it was time he stopped running from it.
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