2b | i follow you like a stray

I'LL MAKE THIS PRETTY LATER

"He doesn't show his emotions much, but when he stands on the field, he does things I can't even think of doing."

As what is perhaps the most fitting, Haruichi's brother Ryosuke describes him better than anyone else. Haruichi Kominato, as the youngest of two brothers, is a shy, sweet first year student who loves baseball more than just about anything in the world. He came to Seidou High School, a school famous for its baseball team, to follow in his brother's footsteps, but don't assume that's all there is to him--Haruichi's talent shines on its own just fine.

Just by looking at Haruichi, it's obvious that he's fairly shy and quiet--his bangs used to fall over his face, obscuring his eyes and hiding his expression. The only time you can ever really see Haruichi's face is when he's swinging at a ball, and this is fairly descriptive of Haruichi himself. Outside of the game, he tends to be fairly passive and gets flustered easily--when people praise him or compliment him, he gets embarrassed, to the point of his entire face turning as pink as hair. Closeness and warmth with his teammates isn't really unheard of, but even getting a random nickname ('Harucchi', from Eijun) embarrasses him and pleases him a lot. He grew up as a crybaby with a protective older brother, and was bullied a lot as a kid, adding to his typically shy demeanor outside of the game. Haruichi also doesn't participate in a lot of the louder displays of camaraderie when it comes to his teammates (particularly Eijun, who is a walking human megaphone). A great example of this is when he gets on the field early in the summer tournament and does something awesome--while the whole team is yelling and hooting his name, Haruichi shyly pumps his fist in the air. It's not that he doesn't want to participate or that he doesn't like Seidou (yeah right), it's just that he's shy and not as prone to being wild like his teammates. This leads to Haruichi also taking on sort of a "babysitter" role when it comes to his other two first string classmates, Eijun and Furuya, who both honestly need a babysitter. The two of them compete so frequently that Haruichi is most often found telling them to calm down, or trying (and only half succeeding) to stop them from killing each other/the people around them/rivals. He's definitely the straight man when it comes to his wildly aggressive (or quietly aggressive, in Furuya's case) friends and teammates.

Just because he's not loud doesn't mean he's not nice, though. Haruichi is, basically, a cinnamon roll too good for this world and too pure. He's usually smiling from what you can see of his face, and he often has compliments or nice words for his teammates. (This is another thing that Furuya and Eijun compete over--he praises one, and the other immediately gets angry. Everyone wants nice words from Haruichi.) Generally, he's a sweetheart, but Haruichi also knows how to say something bluntly (see: to Eijun), because he understands how to get his point across. Though these things can occasionally seem kind of harsh, Haruichi says them because he greatly respects his teammates (Eijun) and knows that they mess up (Eijun) so they need to hear it from someone that they know cares about them. This blunt side is part of a natural stubbornness that Haruichi carries--his quiet nature hides a hard worker who refuses to give up on anything, including the use of a wooden bat after being told he was too weak and short for it. Similarly, he is a member of the Kominato family, which means he can be pretty mean when it's called for, and he has a pretty great imitation of his brother's terrifying never ending smile to be pulled out whenever its necessary.

But that's off of the baseball field. When the sport itself is involved, Haruichi's not nearly as passive. An acutely talented player, Haruichi is a stunning all around fielder and an excellent batter--when pinch hitting in the summer tournament, he finished with a perfect batting average of 1.000. Haruichi's intelligence also shines on the field, where he can, more or less, play other fielders like a fiddle, with the ability to manipulate a pitch however he wants it to--Chris refers to him as "a little devil" because he knows all the right ways to break a defense down. His adaptability allows him to adjust and hit almost any pitch, and he often makes clutch plays like catching a ball mid air, rolling, and getting it off to the next player all in the blink of an eye. He's ambitious enough that he wants to take his brother's spot as starting second baseman in the first string, and works very hard in order to maintain his skills and take them to the next level. However, in the time that he didn't get to start, he felt a little bit of jealousy towards the other first string players, because he didn't often get to as a pinch hitter, but Haruichi doesn't show it, instead taking it as motivation to work harder and get better. His spot on the first string has never been guaranteed--but Haruichi works hard to keep it.

As you've probably already gathered, it's impossible to talk about Haruichi without talking about his relationship to his older brother, Ryosuke. Haruichi has a huge younger brother complex and he admires Ryosuke to the point of her worship, even copying him often when they were kids. If Ryosuke would eat tomatoes, Haruichi would start eating tomatoes. If Ryosuke played second base? He would play second base. His admiration of Ryosuke has led Haruichi to become an overall harder worker and a better player, because he wants to play on the same level as him.

Haruichi Kominato is a bit of a paradox--shy and quiet and humble, but a powerhouse player. He's a lot more than just his cute pink packaging, and underneath his shy exterior, you can find a hard worker, a good friend, and an excellent addition to Seidou High School's baseball team.