abe clutches at the swelling in his chest
nine, he remembers.
nine sections.

he’s been going about this all wrong.

abe is used to being the big man in charge.
he is extraordinary.
the clean muff of the ball against his mitt tells him that.
but in the face of this new information,
nine
abe feels small.

this must be what mihashi feels like, he thinks.
tiny and shaken and small.

mihashi does not recognize the sleeping lion resting in bird feathers.

abe takes a breath to steel the thumping in his blood.
he is extraordinary,
he has no doubt.


mihashi is extraordinary.