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For the first time in a long while, Toshiya had trouble falling asleep.
The room was quieter than usual. Not necessarily in volume, but in... presence.
It was the first night since Goro left Kaido. And although he had long accepted that this was going to happen eventually, Toshiya felt the weight of the bunk above his much more than when it was still in use.
Goro transferred before the end of the semester. It happened a lot quicker than Toshiya expected, but Goro probably didn't want his impending departure to weigh on the team any longer than necessary.
The last few days they spent together were somewhat awkward. Nothing was out of the ordinary, but everything was different.
They did what they always did, and that was exactly why.
Before Goro announced that he never planned to go to Koshien with Kaido and even for some time afterward, there was a feeling of permanence between them. Or at least Toshiya thought there was. Even if it would have been just for these three years of high school, it seemed like they would just stay team mates, just stay a battery.
But then he left.
And with this feeling of permanence gone, it was hard to feel anything but the finiteness of their situation.
What used to be just breakfast turned into potentially the last breakfast they had together. What used to be regular training in the bullpen became what was probably one of the last opportunities to catch Goro's pitches.
And their little disputes over nothing became a constant reminder that soon enough, none of this bickering would be heard inside these dorms anymore.
Soon enough there would be nobody to wake up when Toshiya was the only one to react to his alarm clock. Soon enough there would be nobody to say goodnight to after a tiring day of practice. Nobody to beg him for advice on schoolwork. Nobody to recklessly remind him that there is only one person who can lay out the tracks of your life.
Goro was never one to openly talk about what he really feels. And yet he was always honest.
Toshiya could have hated how Goro's selfishness always let situations escalate more than they had to. But even this part of Goro was something he couldn't find in himself to hate. Because even when he turned his back on the dream Toshiya harbored for over a year, even when he left this battery to become Toshiya's rival again, Goro's actions never felt truly selfish. He didn't decide to turn his back on Toshiya. Just, to walk a different path in the same direction.
In a way this was how they had always been.
They only really spent a couple of years together. For most of their friendship there had been long periods of time where they didn't even talk, let alone see each other. Where being in different teams, being in different cities kept them from truly being as close as Toshiya felt they were.
But he's always been there. Somewhere.
Toshiya wouldn't be who he was if he hadn't met Goro. If his life hadn't been turned upside down when they first played catch more than 10 years ago. If it hadn't been for their game in middle school where he was reminded what he loved about baseball, about his friend.
In theory, today was nothing more than a regular day. Tomorrow would be a normal day of practice, just like the day after and the day after that. There were still top class pitchers who Toshiya could catch for. Pitchers whose variety of breaking balls should theoretically make them more interesting, more enjoyable to lead. But as the seconds dragged and the only sounds Toshiya could hear were his own breathing and the sounds of his restless turning, he felt like he would forever treasure these first three semesters he spent at Kaido.
This only time they've been a battery.
Goro didn't say goodbye. Just like after the game that decided his departure, there was no sense of farewell in his words. What remained unspoken between them was the certainty that they would see each other on a baseball field again. It didn't need to be said. To them it was simply a fact.
It had to happen. Toshiya didn't follow Goro to Kaido with the intent to conquer them from within just to back down now. He was determined to keep his side of their silent agreement. To go to Koshien. And to meet him along the way.
They shared a bond that Toshiya would never let go to waste, no matter the circumstances, no matter their distance.
And even though there was nobody to hear his words, for one last time, he whispered what had been his way to end the day ever since they left Dream Island.
“Good night, Goro.”
Deep down he didn't feel like smiling. But at least for this short moment he couldn't help it. Because he was looking forward to a certain day in the not so far future. A day that would be on his mind until it would finally come. A day that was surely going to be as special as all the other days they shared.
Eventually he drifted off to sleep. And the void above him started to feel a little smaller.
Good night, Goro.
Until we meet again.