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When Chris graduated Eijun had urged the catcher to keep in touch. He had many strong feelings regarding Chris, some he couldn't even place a name to yet, but the one thing he knew was that he was going to miss the catcher and still wanted to be part of his life.
--- Wait for me, Chris-senpai! I'll be the best pitcher for you, then we can form our battery again!
Chris had smiled at him and they had traded contact information. Throughout Eijun's second year at Seidou they kept a steady stream of contact and even made time for one another whenever they had free time. This pattern continued into Eijun's third year at Seidou and he and Chris had gotten even closer. Eijun realized his feelings were more than friendship and now whenever he looked at Chris he would notice all the little things. How Chris would smile softly at him when they spoke, how the flecks of green in Chris' hazel eyes would come out during the summer, how Chris’ hair was as soft as it looked.
All these and more where things that Eijun held close to his heart. Now he had graduated from Seidou and got into the same University Chris was attending. He had studied like he never studied before. Whenever he wasn’t working on his baseball he was working on his school assignments. Kanemaru had to pinch himself to make sure it wasn’t a fantastical dream when Eijun showed him the University’s acceptance paperwork.
A lot of people thought he was going to join Miyuki at his school, but he already had Narumiya Mei and Furuya, and besides, it had always been his goal to go to Chris’ school. Chris and Eijun were going to form the best battery in Japan and besides this way he and Furuya could remain rivals and he had always wanted Miyuki to acknowledge him - what better way than to beat him in a game?
His wins at Koshien had allowed him to try out for the starter team and the coach and fellow teammates were impressed, even Chris had expressed just how proud he was. And so now he was part of the starters and he and Chris formed the best battery.
They had gotten even closer now that they were in the same school and didn’t have to coordinate their schedules all the time. It was halfway through the third term that the coach announced that they were getting a new pitcher who was doing their study abroad in Japan and that they were from America. All sorts of alarm bells started ringing in Eijun’s head, but he could place why that would be.
And then Eijun saw him - Robert “Rob” Jones was tall, broad shouldered with long black hair tied into a small ponytail at the back of his neck and with deep brown eyes. His skin was fairly dark, tanned from the sun and from hours of playing baseball. His thighs were thick, his legs were long and he seemed to have a playful smile on his face most of the time. His Japanese was heavily accented, but everyone was kind to him and he was kind in return. He quickly joined a study group with some language students where they helped each other with English and Japanese.
And he was to be Chris’ new battery partner.
Originally Riku, who was another catcher on the team and the back-up if Chris couldn’t be in a game, was to be Rob’s battery partner, but due to some health reasons Riku had to take a few weeks off practice.
The coach wanted to foster goodwill relations with Rob’s school in America and therefore let the other man practice in the bullpen as much as he wanted...which meant he spent hours and hours with Chris.
Eijun saw Chris less and less and his standing on the team was shaky at best now. He could hear Chris’ soft words from the bullpen as he encouraged Rob and Eijun’s heart twinged. He couldn’t take it anymore. It had already been more than a week of this and the only times Eijun managed to meet with Chris was at meals, and even then it was sparse.
Eijun got up from where he was doing his cooldown stretches. Normally he would have stayed longer, or at least attempted to wait for Chris, but he just couldn’t do it anymore. If he heard one more soft-spoken word from Chris that was not to him he was going to cry, he just knew it. He walked to the bullpen and there they were, practicing and smiling and they looked so cozy together that Eijun could feel tears gathering in his eyes. His heart clenched in his chest and he finally could admit to himself that he felt more for Chris than mere friendship and camaraderie.
He realized he loved him
and it seemed as if he lost him all at the same time
It was like fate, or a bad twist of karma that at that moment when the realization hit Eijun that Chris looked up and over and saw the southpaw past the fence of the bullpen. Eijun hadn’t realized that the tears that had gathered in his eyes out of frustration and sadness had welled over so much that they started trailing down his cheeks. He could see Chris’ expression become worried and Eijun couldn’t take it anymore and so he ran.
Rob and Chris had so much in common that it made sense that Chris would prefer him over Eijun. Rob was American, so he and Chris had a lot more to talk about. Rob also knew English and so it allowed Chris to communicate in a way he had probably missed. Rob was also a pitcher and so he could form a battery with Chris. Rob was talented and smart and handsome and whenever they were together Chris tended to smile a lot more.
Eijun figured that since he hadn’t said anything to Chris about his feelings he could continue to pretend that everything was fine, but everything inside him ached at the thought.
“Eijun, wait!” called out Chris. Eijun had ran without a destination in mind and hadn’t realized that Chris had come after him. He wasn’t ready to face him yet and so he continued to run. “Eijun!” called out Chris again as he kicked off with a burst of speed and caught Eijun’s wrist. “What’s wrong?” he asked when the pitcher finally stopped.
Eijun couldn’t run away now but he couldn’t bring himself to face Chris either. “Look at me,” Chris continued on to say and slowly Eijun turned around. The tears in his eyes had dried up but they were still puffy and a bit red.
Chris looked surprised, not knowing what caused such a reaction. “Are you okay?” asked Chris as he peered intently into Eijun’s eyes.
Eijun mustered the fakest smile on his face. “I’m..I’m alright Chris. Why don’t you go back to Rob, he’s probably wondering where you went,” Eijun said as friendly as he could even though he felt like running away again and hiding in his bed.
“Rob? He’s fine, he can wait. I’m more worried about you,” confessed Chris.
Eijun wished for one moment that Chris could stop being so damn nice . It was hard to get over him when he was constantly perfect all the time.
“I’m fine. He’s your battery partner, right? So you should go back. I have some homework to finish anyway,” Eijun said, realizing it was a lame excuse but there wasn’t much more that would get Chris to let him go.
Yet it turned out that wasn’t enough for Chris’ hold on his wrist got tighter instead.
“I will always choose you,” Chris implored softly as he stared at Eijun’s eyes directly.
Eijun’s own eyes widened in surprise.
“You’re my battery partner...my only partner,” Chris confessed as he continued to stare, unwilling to miss any of Eijun’s expressions.
Eijun could feel his heart beat wildly in his chest as it crawled up to his throat. He choked back his feelings, unwilling to let the happiness he felt surge within him. Chris couldn’t mean he had romantic feelings for him either, could he?
“But Rob is - “ began to say Eijun but the words were stuck in his mouth as Chris leaned forward and kissed him.
Eijun couldn’t do much else aside from kiss Chris back. He gripped the side of Chris’ head and entangled his fingers through the soft brown hair. Eijun turned his head and deepened the kiss, swallowing Chris’ responding moan. He could feel his body warm with arousal as they continued to kiss.
They came up for air simultaneously and Chris sported an indulgent grin.
“I’ve been waiting to do that for a long time,” he confessed as he looked at Eijun with dark eyes.
Eijun swallowed harshly. “Well, no reason to wait any longer, right?” he rhetorically asked with a grin.
Chris smiled in response. “No reason at all,” he said before he grabbed Eijun by the waist, and kissed him again.
end.