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The course of the fastball isn’t ideal.
It taps the right side of Koushuu’s glove, and slides down to the soil of the plate with a thud . This sound urges the agitation that has been building up since the beginning of the inning to overflow. In a split second his arm moves backwards, and the baseball is swiftly caught by his bare hand.
Behind the catcher’s mask his gaze settles on the runner on third. With boldness born out of adrenaline he throws the ball to this spot, and is satisfied to find out he judged the situation correctly. The runner doesn’t make it back to base despite his best efforts, and his teeth clench in frustration.
Koushuu allows himself a small smile.
Their successfully attained second out is announced through the speakers in the stadium. The booming voice of a man rains praises on them and a similar reaction arises from the audience in the bleachers.
The tiredness of the game doesn’t stop the team from being vocal with their encouragement. Haruichi gives Eijun a short and sincere pep talk. Furuya lifts one of his fists up and makes sure to repeat the words: ‘don’t mind, don’t mind.’ at least three times, getting Eijun worked up immediately. Kanemaru joins in too with a loud yell of his name.
Koushuu remains silent. He perceives that something is wrong when Eijun puts a pause to his banter with Furuya, grasps the bill of his cap to pull it closer to his face, and hides his eyes underneath it.
The disappointment and self-loathing doesn’t go unnoticed for Koushuu. He requests a time-out from the umpire, and closes the gap between them in strides. Eijun sees his feet first only, and finally jolts out of his daze.
Koushuu uses his glove as a shield to speak, and inquires without warning, “Did you bring an extra t-shirt with you today?”
It’s a very mundane subject, a very mundane question that has the sole purpose of drawing Eijun’s attention away from the game to help him relax. Even with this certainty the reply he stutters out is, “Y-yeah? Why?”
“Good. Taking naps while wearing sweaty clothes is really uncomfortable, right? Let’s finish this up as quickly as we can and get some rest.” Koushuu says calmly.
“W-wait!” Eijun exclaims, “Your methods for cheering people up sure keep on getting worse!”
Koushuu clears his throat, and focuses on the way the humid summer wind ruffles Eijun’s hair, “Hm? Well, it’s good enough if the end goal is fulfilled, no need to mind the small details.”
“Small details... you…” Eijun burst out laughing, and the lingering tension on his shoulders melts away.
“Sawamura-senpai.”
“What’s it?”
Koushuu puts the glove away from his mouth, leans in and right beside Eijun’s ear whispers, “Let’s do it.”
Eijun forgets to breathe for a moment, and it takes him a while to gather some semblance of composure. Koushuu thinks that maybe he unknowingly crossed a line just now, but before shame can prompt him to take anything back Eijun tugs at his elbow.
With unadulterated excitement shining in his gaze, and his baseball cap out of the way, Eijun beams, “The forehead touch we did last time in our practice game, right?! Sure! Come on!”
Their height difference is slight, but apparent whenever they stand near each other. Koushuu is taller by three or so centimeters, and Eijun refuses to accept the fact that this little variance might widen even more in the future.
Koushuu can hear the blood rushing in his ears, and his heart hastening its beating when Eijun pats the back of his head clumsily to pull him in. It’s ridiculous how his confidence wanes away slowly, and the expectant expression Eijun wears isn’t helpful, but endearing instead.
Koushuu scolds himself in privacy, and pushes down the longing he feels—The longing to do more than just this, to be shameless with his affection and act careless for once.
“You look like you want a kiss.” Eijun teases.
‘Your timing for this is so bad.’
Koushuu wants to tell him so, but he blurts out something else altogether, “Would you give it to me?”
Being like an open book people can learn to read after some time acquainting with it doesn’t help Eijun, at all, when he wants to be a little more discreet with his emotions. Koushuu, on the contrary, has more practice at being composed and cool, so he spares him the embarrassment and quickly regains his bearings.
They are in the middle of a game, kisses and such matters can, surely, be discussed later when there aren’t hundreds of people watching over their every action.
“If you can’t go on, rely on me.” Koushuu pleads, “The mistakes we make can be solved together. I don’t mind it.”
“You..” Eijun smiles sheepishly, pulls away and scratches the side of his neck, “I know. If we go up in flames, we go up in flames together, hm?”
Koushuu’s grin is candid and his eagerness to be an anchor for him spontaneous, “Why, is that the part you remember the most? But, yeah that’s right.”
Eijun chuckles, “What do you mean why? You were really intense about it.
“A-anyway,” Koushuu puts his index and middle finger up in a ‘V’ sign, “Only two outs.”
“Then, let’s get that third out, and a nap afterwards!”
Their gloves meet in a show of resolve. Eijun fixes his cap back in place as Koushuu does the same with his previously discarded catcher mask. The distance between them widens again, but this time around there are no pending insecurities hanging in the air. The plate and the mound are connected by their determination to move towards victory.
Eijun’s grip tightens around the baseball, and Koushuu doesn’t hesitate to call for a fastball again.
The trajectory of the pitch tears out a gasp of surprise from the batter, and has him swinging by instinct. The ball is thrusted into the sky, and when it loses its momentum falls snuggly on Haruichi’s glove.
It’s the third out of the inning at last.
The joy of winning a difficult game buoys everyone to celebrate. Unbounded laughter erupts in the field. Eijun stands on the mound surrounded by a group of his teammates, and his mirth is contagious.
Koushuu looks at him fondly and mumbles,
“Nothing less from you, partner.”