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Nabe read the text on his phone three times just to make sure he was seeing it correctly. Over and over, the same smattering of words, yet the utter strangeness of them kept him coming back for more repetitions.
Kuramochi wanted to meet in the library. If that guy were allergic to any building at Seidou, it was certainly the library.
But the library it would be. To his knowledge, Kuramochi had no looming tests or classes in risk of slipping into failure territory; in fact, Kuramochi was a fairly decent student. Whatever it was, Nabe figured it had to be important.
Dropping his bag on a nearby table later that day, Nabe perused the library for Kuramochi but couldn’t find him until he barrelled through the door looking around frantically. He spotted Nabe and joined him at the table. “Hey, thanks for coming. Sorry I’m late.”
“No problem.” Nabe observed Kuramochi fidgeting in his seat and couldn’t hold back his curiosity anymore. “So, what can I help you with?”
Kuramochi groaned and dropped his head into his folded arms. “I wanna switch hit, but I still can’t get good contact on the right side.”
“Oh!” Nabe felt his cheeks grow warm. “Why are you asking me? I’m barely good enough to play on the second string?”
Eyes narrow, Kuramochi lifted his head to glare at Nabe. “First of all, that’s bullshit. Second of all —” He gave Nabe a wry smile. “— you’re kind of the sharpest guy on the team who isn’t named Miyuki, and there’s no way I’m asking that shithead for help. He’d never let me hear the end of it.”
Nabe blinked as he gaped at Kuramochi. “Are you sure you aren’t thinking of someone else?”
His nose wrinkling in confusion, Kuramochi said hesitantly, “No?”
Heart stuttering in his chest at the thought of being the first choice for something so important, Nabe bobbed his head. “Well, where do you want to start?”
Kuramochi pulled a book on batting from his bag and set it on the table. “I read this cover to cover. I know what it says, but when I try to apply it, I apparently don’t get it.”
“I see.” Nabe took the book and thumbed through it, absorbing the reference pictures as he went. Once he finished, he met Kuramochi’s expectant gaze and smiled. “I think I might have some ideas.”
They studied well into the evening, and Nabe was amazed at how quickly Kuramochi comprehended and adapted the information. Right after, they headed for the batting cages where they could put it into practice, with Nabe making suggestions for adjustments as they went.
This pattern continued every few days, and Kuramochi’s right side batting average slowly increasing in practice. Kominato, Kuramochi’s keystone duo partner, noticed the difference first. “You-san is hitting better on the right, don’t you think, Nabe-san?”
Chuckling, Nabe answered, “I agree.”
Their study sessions continued, and Nabe found himself looking forward to them. Not only was his opinion valued, Kuramochi was actually a lot of fun to spend time with. He joked and laughed and listened when he needed to, and he never interrupted Nabe when he was showing something.
The summer tournament was rapidly approaching, and their lessons moved to early mornings between when morning practice ended and school began. It was nearly time to head to class, but Kuramochi stopped Nabe and wrangled him into the stacks with a furtive look on his face.
“I, um, have no idea how to say this because I’m not exactly the eloquent type, but there’s something I want you to know.” Kuramochi’s cheeks grew redder and redder, and Nabe watched in bald fascination as one of the cooler people he’d ever met devolved into a pile of nerves.
“If you want me to wait and tell me later, it’s okay,” Nabe suggested. “The bell’s about to ring.”
Growling under his breath, Kuramochi grumbled, “No, damn it, I wanna say it now.” He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me when you didn’t have to, but my batting isn’t the only reason I wanted to study with you.”
“What?” Nabe stared wide-eyed at Kuramochi’s tortured face as he struggled to find the words for what he wanted — needed — to say.
He got an entirely different surprise when Kuramochi grabbed his wrists, tugged them together, and planted a warm, open-mouthed kiss on his lips. Some natural instinct Nabe had never tapped into before took over, and he leaned into it as they both sought angles to make it just that much better.
Wrenching away, Kuramochi’s face was hot and Nabe knew his own was, as well. “I, uh, yeah . . . I like you. And. You know . . . stuff.”
“Yeah.” Nabe reached up and touched his lips with a shaking hand, marveling at how they still tingled from the contact. “That was nice. I’m probably bad at it, but I —” Nabe looked at his shoes, unable to look Kuramochi in the eye as he finished, “— wouldn’t mind practicing that, either.”
When he finally raised his eye level, Kuramochi was grinning at him. “Wow, that went a lot better than I thought. I figure you’d strangle me with your bag strap or something.”
Nabe chuckled. “I think you might actually enjoy that.”
Kuramochi squawked in protest, but they were both smiles as they migrated out of the library and toward the third year wing of the school, shoulders close and mood even closer as they sought to study something else. However, Nabe knew there would be only one thing on his mind for the rest of the day, and that was fine by him.