Chapter Text
SAWAMURA EIJUN
Sawamura Eijun is getting impatient. He has always been an impatient kid, probably a trait he developed as an only child. He couldn't believe that it had already been twenty-five (happy) days since Satoru and him got together, and nobody still knew about it (or so he thought).
For the past couple of weeks, he and Satoru have been practically inseparable. They walk to practice together, do their runs together, stretch together, eat together, go to classes together, take their baths together, hang out in their rooms on days off. They even hug each other after a good game! Everything that they could possibly do without breaking any of their rules and yet nobody, not Kuramochi nor Miyuki, has said anything.
Eijun sighed. Maybe they need to be more obvious. He laid on his bed and got his phone out.
Satoru, maybe we should start holding hands , he typed and sent the message to his boyfriend.
Why? Satoru replied.
Because! We've been dropping a lot of hints now and still, nobody's saying anything. (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞
Well, we could always call off the bet and just tell them
NOOO! (￣□￣」) We have been so invested in this it'd be a waste not to follow things through.
As expected of you
What's that supposed to mean? ヽ( `д´*)ノ
Just that you never leave things halfway through. You always see things through to the end ♡( ◡‿◡ )
Eijun's heart did a little skip upon reading Satoru's message. And he used a kaomoji too! He really wanted to squeal but Kuramochi-senpai happened to be in the room and would probably wrestle him again. As much as he’s known for being energetic on the field, he’s tired. He just doesn’t have the energy to spare another wrestling session today.
So can we hold hands in public now? (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ
Yes ʕ ᵔᴥᵔ ʔ
Oh btw I'm going to Haruichi’s room. I'm getting help for a quiz tomorrow. Is that okay?
Of course it's okay! Why wouldn't it be? (°ロ°) !
Thought you'd want to hang out
AWWW SATORU! You're so— ugh! (*/ω＼)
Of course I wanted to hang out with you, too! But school is much more important! Let's just hang out later! (o˘◡˘o)
Thanks, Eijun ʕ ᵔᴥᵔ ʔ
I know school is important.
But you're important, too.
Eijun felt his face heat up, and he couldn't do anything to stop his lips from smiling so widely. He buried his face on his pillow and tried to stop himself from screaming.
I hope Kuramochi-senpai doesn't notice , Eijun thought.
When he thought he had his feelings under control, he rolled on his back and continued texting.
You sap! You're important to me, too (づ￣ ³￣)づ
"Oi, what are you grinning for while texting?" Kuramochi asked. Apparently, Eijun did not do a great job at hiding his giddiness.
Eijun tried to contain his smile before answering. "Oh, Satoru and I are just talking about stuff."
Ack! I said Satoru! he internally panicked.
Kuramochi blinked. "You on a first-name basis now?"
Eijun laughed nervously, trying to play it cool. What if he slips some more and then he'll lose the bet? No, he is not losing this bet! Uh, you need to escape now , his brain told him.
"Oh! I just remembered, I have to talk to Kanemaru about, um, our lesson today. Yep, our lesson today was really hard. Well then senpai, I'll just– uh, go."
Eijun quickly jumped from his bed and dashed towards the door before Kuramochi could say anything. He didn’t see the look of confusion and maybe some hint of understanding his senpai wore as he closed the door behind him.
ONO HIROSHI
Ono Hiroshi is a hardworking person. He knows that he may not be as good as the genius Miyuki Kazuya, but he can still do his best to improve and be a reliable catcher for the team.
Which is why on a school night, he was determined to finish all of his homework fast so he can proceed to reviewing the scorebook from the last practice game. I want to improve on my game calling , he thought to himself.
Unfortunately, it seemed like he's having a hard time focusing on this particular math problem. The problem is a little difficult, but Ono knows he can solve this with patience and concentration. However, he kept getting distracted by none other than his roommate, Furuya Satoru.
Furuya is a nice roommate, he didn't make too much noise (except for the times he caused an uproar by tossing a ball through the ceiling) and he’s not too messy. It also helped that Furuya sometimes went out of his way to buy him some drinks. But most of the time he kept to himself, which is perfect for a quiet guy like Ono.
But for some reason, on this particular evening, Furuya had been distracting him albeit unintentionally. Ono just couldn’t help but notice from his periphery how his stoic roommate is smiling while typing on his phone.
Texting is totally normal, Ono knows that, but Furuya is not one to text. And he has been smiling all throughout which was totally out of character. Ono couldn't help but be curious!
Maybe he's just texting someone special, Ono thought. Like a girlfriend.
That didn't make much sense. Furuya mostly focuses on baseball and sleep. And he hardly even shows interest in someone else, much more towards girls. Oh, wait. That's not true, there's Sawamura. They're almost always together.
"Ono-senpai."
Ono flinched, feeling like he got caught. He turned away from his homework and looked up to his roommate. "Oh, Furuya. What is it?"
"I'm just going to Haruichi’s room," Furuya said, standing up.
Oh, was he talking to Haruichi then? Not Sawamura? Ono thought.
"Senpai?"
"Ah, sorry about that. I'm just thinking about this, uh, math problem," Ono said awkwardly.
"Okay, I'll go now."
Ono heaved a sigh of relief as the door closed. He really should be focusing on finishing his homework, not theorizing about his roommate's supposed love life!
Miyuki should still be going over the scorebook now and he'll be dropping it later. He still has some time to spare and finish his math homework.
Ono got into the zone now that he's not distracted. He was almost done, just one more item, when there was a knock on the door. A loud one. He sighed, his concentration broken.
Must be Miyuki , Ono figured, getting up to open the door. At least I'm almost done, I can continue this later.
Much to Ono's surprise, he opened the door to a slightly red-faced Sawamura Eijun. "Good evening, Ono-senpai!" he greeted jovially.
Ono got over his surprise and found his manners to greet back. "Good evening, Sawamura. Do you need anything?"
"I'm here for Furuya!" Sawamura let himself in, Ono didn’t have the opportunity to stop him.
"Furuya said he was going to Haruichi's room." Ono walked back to his desk. He saw Sawamura walk towards Furuya's bed and sat on it.
"Oh right! He told me a while ago, how can I forget?" He said, laughing at himself. "I'll just wait for him, senpai!"
Ono just looked at him, unsure of whether to make him leave so he can focus on his homework. Sawamura has always been a loud one. It's proven beneficial during games as he raised the team's spirits and morale, but indoors… not so much. Sawamura is a good kouhai, and it guilts him to think of kicking him out. Especially when Sawamura looks adorable sitting on Furuya’s bed with crossed legs and hugging a pillow.
Sawamura must've understood what he's thinking, because he grimaced and forced out a smile. "Ah, sorry for disturbing you, senpai. Don't worry I will behave."
Ono's heart twitched guiltily. "Thanks Sawamura."
Ono went back to doing his homework, and true to his word, Sawamura didn't disturb him. He didn’t even make any sort of sound.
After fifteen more minutes of cracking, he finally finished his homework. He stretched his arms and looked around to see Sawamura curled in Furuya’s bed, peacefully sleeping while hugging Furuya pillow.
It's his first time seeing Sawamura being so still and peaceful. They're all used to seeing him with boundless energy on the field. Seeing him like this just makes his heart melt a little, like when you see a particularly cute animal.
So cute , Ono thought to himself. Must protect. I'll just let him—
Ono didn't even get to finish his thought as he almost got a heart attack when Eijun, with his sleep talking tendencies, suddenly sat up and shouted "Boss!"
It took everything for Ono to stop himself from slapping Sawamura awake. It probably helped that he got distracted with another knock.
This time it is Miyuki. He opened the door to let him in.
FURUYA SATORU
Furuya Satoru is just tired, too tired. He is very much aware that he has low stamina, and he had run himself dry during practice today. And studying a particularly hard lesson in English with Haruichi just depleted his energy some more.
If not for the threat of him failing his classes, he wouldn't have chosen to spend his time giving himself a headache over hanging out with Eijun. He's not even sure if he'll remember everything Haruichi taught him in the morning. He's thankful Haruichi is going out of his way to help him, but he is a strict teacher. Furuya shuddered as he recalled Haruichi's dark aura leaking when he showed the slightest signs of zoning out.
I can almost feel my brain leaking through my ears , Satoru thought as he trudged back to their room. I need to recharge, I need to see Eijun.
He took out his phone which was kept in his pocket throughout his study session with Haruichi (again, Haruichi-sensei is strict and doesn't appreciate distractions, like him being on his phone). He was delighted to see Eijun's text: I'm in your room .
Satoru can swear he has never run so fast in his life as he did right after reading his boyfriend's text. He eagerly opened the door and barged in, not even bothering to look around and greet his senpai like he always does.
His vision just zeroed in on the figure on his bed. His breath caught when he saw Eijun asleep, so adorably curled up hugging his pillow. Satoru is sure he had never seen Eijun look more precious than he did right now. Or he just doesn't remember.
He walked towards his bed cautiously, as if afraid he'll wake up Eijun.
"What are you doing?"
Satoru was startled. He was about to shush the person when he whipped around to see that it was Miyuki who asked him.
"Ah, senpai. You're here," Satoru observed. Duh, his brain supplied.
"What? Am I not allowed to be here?" Miyuki grinned.
Satoru shook his head. It’s obvious Miyuki was just trying to get a rise out of him. He won’t fall for it.
He gingerly sat on his bed, right by Eijun's feet. He wanted nothing more than to hug Eijun right now but with Miyuki-senpai and Ono-senpai in the room, he just settled to being near Eijun instead, feeling Eijun's warmth just a few inches away. So near yet so far. He badly needed the contact but he has to stop himself unless he wanted to blatantly break the rules of the bet.
"What's Sawamura doing here then?" Miyuki prodded.
Satoru just shrugged, playing the innocent and indifferent card. It has always worked wonders for him.
"Well then, I should wake him up and ask him to go back to their room."
"No," Satoru said so quickly that Miyuki and Ono looked taken aback.
Miyuki collected himself and laughed. "Why are you letting him sleep on your bed?"
Satoru struggled to think of an answer. Uh, I got nothing, his mind uselessly thought. Good thing Ono-senpai must've taken pity on him.
"Sawamura must've been tired from the training today, let him sleep," Ono said, looking at Satoru as if saying something.
Satoru didn't really get it, but it probably meant Ono-senpai is helping him. "That's right. Let him sleep, senpai. I'll walk him up later to his room."
Miyuki just eyed him suspiciously, and Satoru is afraid he's about to say something along the lines of Are you two dating? and Satoru would lose the bet spectacularly.
Thankfully Miyuki just shrugged and stood up. "I'll be off then. I wouldn't want to wake your Sawamura. Let's continue tomorrow, Ono."
Satoru was just relieved that Miyuki is leaving, he didn't even seem to process Miyuki's choice of words. Miyuki just grinned at him when he didn't say anything and left.
When Satoru finally thought the coast was clear, with Miyuki gone and Ono poring over the scorebook, he picked up Eijun’s hand and held it in his. He smiled contentedly.
---
Extra...
Some of the second string players are still up and about doing their extra swings at their usual spot. At around half past ten, some of them started to finish up and slowly made their way back to the dorms.
“Oi, look, is that Furuya?” one player asked, squinting at a tall, bulky figure moving slowly and somewhat awkwardly. It was a bit too far to see clearly.
“That does look like Furuya,” another one answered. “Is he carrying someone on his back?”
“Yeah, is that Sawamura?” the first one asked.
“No, that can’t be,” the other one said, disbelieving.
“Eh, it doesn't matter. We should go wash up and turn in. I’m beat.”
And so they never found out that it was indeed Furuya Satoru who was carrying one sleeping Sawamura Eijun back to his room. If only they followed, they would’ve witnessed the commotion that Kuramochi caused, too.