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Eijun felt that their training had been going well. When he first joined Seido apparently he had no real knowledge on how to play baseball. All he knew was that wanted to be a pitcher, the Ace, but it wasn’t until he moved into the Seido Spirit dorms did he realize what that really meant.
Even now he acknowledges that he’s still constantly learning. Many people, some on rival teams, have helped him grow into the pitcher he wants to be. None, however, had helped him as much as Chris-senpai has.
When they had first met and interacted Eijun was a self-centered brat and even now he’s still ashamed at how he had acted and disrespected Chris-senpai. Eijun knows how to acknowledge his mistakes and how to grow from them, he carried the burden of his idiocy and lack of thought like a cross on his back and vowed to never be that shallow or self-centered again.
Chris had shown him the lengths he was willing to go for baseball and was a deep well of knowledge too. Eijun learned that Chris was well versed in all aspects of baseball, whether as a catcher in a game, as a manager gathering data, and as a coach teaching Eijun not only proper stances, but ball grips, ball control, and strategy.
It was not easy to learn all that he did, but with observation, practice and perseverance Eijun managed to finally become an asset to the team and joined the first string.
He owed Chris so much.
The older teen had gone out of his way to help Seido any way he could instead of focusing on school or getting on the first string himself. Chris had sacrificed so much and Eijun was adamant that it would not be in vain. He would take everything that Chris had taught him and continued to teach him and use it to become a reliable Ace for Seido and take the team to Koshien.
The admiration he felt toward Chris had soon morphed into something more. For a while Eijun hadn’t even noticed that his feelings had changed. It was so gradual and natural that when the revelation struck he hadn’t minded at all.
Chris-senpai became just ‘Chris’ in his head and Eijun wished their training sessions were a bit more private.
Before the game against Osaka Kiryu High School Chris was working on adjusting his leg height and placement. Chris’ warm and firm hands were placed on his hips and legs and Eijun had to fight back the urge to bury himself in Chris’ hold. He wasn’t sure if it was because he had been crying so much from having taken Chris’ place on the first string, but he knew what he wanted. If the others hadn’t been there training with them he probably would have done something stupid, like try to kiss Chris.
Now that Chris was going to be the other half of his battery Eijun found himself less and less annoyed that Miyuki spent so much time with Furuya and found himself more annoyed whenever Tanba-san and Chris joined in a battery. Wasn’t Miyauchi-senpai enough for him? Why did he have to take up precious time with Chris?!
Eijun knew he was being unreasonable in his heart but he couldn’t help it. It was at the worst times did he remember the camaraderie the other two teens shared. He had seen them laughing and joking with one another and it struck Eijun at that point that Chris and Tanba-san had been friends for a long time, longer than Eijun had even known Chris and that knowledge stung.
The days at Seido progressed and the more Eijun improved his pitching the more infatuated he became with Chris. The other teen was patient, kind, smart, and handsome. Eijun never really cared to notice those things in other people before but suddenly on Chris it was all he could notice. He wondered if others saw what he did whenever they looked at the catcher.
There wasn’t anyone at Seido he was comfortable talking to regarding his crush and so he resorted to talking with Wakana. They would normally email back and forth but with Kuramochi-senpai constantly stealing his phone he didn’t want the messages to be found. When he finally found some time from training he snuck away from the field and the dorms and called his friend.
The conversation with Wakana left him a little confused and irritated. Wakana had said that maybe he didn’t really feel that way about Chris - that he was confusing his love of pitching with the older teen. Eijun was adamant that although Chris taught him so much it wasn’t because his pitching was improving that he started to like the other teen.
It left a sour taste in his mouth after talking with her. Usually she was much more understanding so it hurt that she could not support him and see his feelings for what they really were. He had originally called Wakana because he wanted advice on how to proceed with getting closer to Chris.
Time passed once more and he and Wakana had patched up their friendship. She had arrived in Tokyo to see him pitch at the Sensen game. He wished that he had more time to speak with her, to introduce her to Chris-senpai and have his two favorite people interact, but the Inashiro game was about to begin and they had to head to the stands.
(And Kuramochi-senpai was being way more violent than usual)
While Chris wasn’t looking, Eijun snuck a picture of him on his phone and shared it to Wakana.
She essentially sent him back many ‘thumbs up’ emojis and Eijun laughed. He made sure to erase a few of the messages from his phone before Kuramochi-senpai could get it, but he made sure to password protect the picture of Chris.
During the training following, the picture made him feel better whenever he felt he didn’t do too well in practice or he failed to learn the concepts that Chris was trying to teach him. It always left a fluttery feeling in his stomach and his heart ached with longing as he stared at it.
The worst thing had happened.
Seido lost
And Eijun felt it was his fault.
That inside pitch…. It destroyed him.
Now the third years were done with the baseball season. Their last year.
And so was Chris.
He couldn’t pitch to the inside. He couldn’t.
Every time he tried he imagined hitting that Inashiro batter and how everything just fell apart at the seams afterward.
Eijun tried to regain his pitching, reset his equilibrium, but he just couldn’t manage it. The harder he tried, the more it kept slipping from his grasp. Everywhere he looked he could see the pity in people’s eyes. He tried to get back into the pitcher mindset. He would run around the field with his ‘tire-partner’ and attend all the practice games for the fielders, but none of it seemed to work. It felt that he was at his wits end and he was slowly being sucked away into a blackhole, unable to crawl out - and then someone threw him a lifeline.
It was Chris.
Chris met up with him in the indoor gym. That alone was a miracle.
Once they lost the Summer Tournament and started their practice for the Fall Invitational, the old third years had gone back into their studies to get ready for University, Chris included. Eijun hadn’t seen the third year since the team lost and Eijun was both happy and sad that he hadn’t.
After all Chris had done for him, had sacrificed for Seido, Eijun still lost. He had failed Chris and he couldn’t face him. But Eijun also knew that if he had seen Chris then he wouldn’t be in such a rut and he could work on overcoming his yips.
And it was true. Just seeing Chris, his hair soft around his face with his loose and comfortable clothes had reignited the passion he had for the other teen. He knew that he was in good hands with Chris since he had never failed him before.
They trained that evening and Eijun threw his first outside pitch. It was different than his inside. It had to be more precise in order to make sure he could differentiate between a ‘ball’ and a ‘strike’. The training helped and he seemed more like himself than he had in awhile.
He had missed Chris during their separation, but having him back as a battery partner, even if it ended up being for just one evening, meant so much to him.
Eijun made his move then, unwilling to let this chance pass him by. When Chris finally called an end to their practice Eijun approached him and hugged him. No one else was around and he just needed to show his gratitude in some way. Eijun wrapped his arms around Chris’ torso and held on tight as he burrowed his face into the other teen’s chest, tears slowly trickling out.
He could tell that Chris was caught off guard, but he still hugged back. Chris wrapped his own arms around Eijun, held him just as tightly. Eijun managed to relax into the hug, breathing in slowly and pleased.
This is what had been missing. Chris had been missing.
Eijun moved from Chris’ hold gently, making sure to still be in the other teen’s arms as he continued to hold onto him loosely. Chris’ face was a little red and Eijun thought he looked cute.
Without too much thought Eijun leaned into Chris and tilted his head up, lips puckered.
His heart pounded in his chest, his blood rushed through his veins, staining his cheeks red. He could feel his hands get sweaty and his lungs contract tightly.
Then Chris kissed him.
Suddenly an explosion of feelings went off in his head.
Surprise. Longing. Fear. Love.
Chris had kissed him.
CHRIS.KISSED.HIM.
Eijun’s heart erupted in happiness as he clung onto Chris more tightly, shifting even closer as he wrapped his arms around the taller teen’s neck. Chris sighed happily into his mouth and they kissed some more.
They had to separate for air soon, but they stayed within each other’s arms.
Eijun suddenly felt very shy, but he would make sure that Chris understood the depth of his feelings.
“Chris-senpai, will you...err… that is...would you be my boyfriend?” Eijun managed to get out, face flaming red but eyes determined, the words coming out a strangled mess.
Chris rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. He had a lot of things going on in his life now that baseball at Seido was over. Exams. University. His own baseball career. Yet with Eijun's face right in front of him with his golden eyes and penetrating stare - Chris figured he could make room in his life for Sawamura Eijun as well.
“I would like that a lot, Eijun,” Chris replied, tasting the name on his lips. Eijun blushed but a large grin appeared on his face.
He let out some kind of happy squeal and launched himself straight back into Chris’ arms.
“Does this mean that we can also continue being a battery?” asked Eijun.
Chris smiled and let out a soft chuckle. “Of course, but only when it doesn’t interfere with my studies,” he added chidingly.
Eijun knew things were going to be alright now.
He still had much to work on in order to get back into his pitching style, but with Chris in his corner and in his heart, he knew he could overcome anything.
THE END.