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Usami knew it was rude, but he couldn’t stop staring. He even rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times to make sure he was really seeing what he was seeing.
Because there was no way--no way--
Miyuki Kazuya, the unfeeling asshole who cared about nothing except baseball, was sitting in front of his locker staring at his phone with a dopey smile on his face.
And if Usami didn’t know any better he would have said Miyuki looked like a man in love.
Katsumata eyed Miyuki warily as he leaned over and said, “He’s kinda freaking me out.”
Usami elbowed him. “I dare you to ask.”
“No way! You ask.”
Usami held out his fist and Katsumata held out his. They played a quick game of janken and Usami won because Katsumata hadn’t noticed yet that he had a habit of mostly picking paper.
“Shit,” muttered Katsumata before he stood up straight and swallowed a couple of times before he called out from across the locker room. “Hey! Miyuki! What’s up with you?”
Usami quietly groaned with second hand embarrassment.
Miyuki glanced up from his phone and looked around the locker room as if realizing where he was and what he was doing. He flashed a--dare Usami say it--a sheepish smile.
“Ah...it’s nothing really,” replied Miyuki as he put his phone in his locker and closed it. “Just my boyfriend.”
Usami blinked because nothing about that sentence could be deemed ‘nothing really’.
Katsumata grinned. “Boyfriend. Got it.”
Miyuki shook his head as he picked up his batting gloves. “Don’t you have other things you need to worry about, Katsumata? Like the game tonight?”
“I’m great against the Marines,” replied Katsumata and he flashed a confident thumbs up.
Miyuki let out a short, condescending laugh as he headed out of the locker room, calling over his shoulder, “Yeah? Then why is your record even?”
Katsumata frowned as he looked at Usami. “It is?”
“Hell if I know,” replied Usami as he finished buttoning up his jersey. “I can barely keep track of my own stats let alone yours.”
Katsumata shrugged like he didn’t care. He probably didn’t. While playing Katsumata cared desperately, but as soon as it was no longer his responsibility to win or lose he would turn off that drive like flipping a switch.
“But more importantly, what the hell?” whispered Usami fiercely. “Miyuki Kazuya has a boyfriend?”
“Yeah, sure, a ‘boyfriend’,” said Katsumata complete with a snort laugh and air quotes.
“You don’t believe him? Why would he lie about something like that?”
“Who knows? But it makes more sense than him actually having a significant other.”
Usami hummed as he considered that statement. “Maybe.”
Katsumata suddenly grinned. “You wanna bet on it?”
---
And of course, this kind of information couldn’t stay a secret.
It took less than two innings for the whole team to find out about Miyuki Kazuya and his so-called boyfriend. Another three innings for everyone to more or less expressed their opinion on the subject and by the seventh inning stretch everyone had placed their bets on whether they thought it was true or not.
And by the next game, everyone was way too invested in the outcome.
Which was why the entire Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks pitching staff was milling around the bullpen as Miyuki and Usami warmed up.
“So, Miyuki,” said Katsumata and it was painfully obvious to Usami that he was trying too hard to play it cool. “This boyfriend of yours.”
Miyuki tossed back the baseball to Usami with the same smooth throw as always. “Let’s give it about ten more pitches and then I want to see how your changeup is--yeah? What about him?”
It took a moment for Katsumata to realize the last question was directed at him.
“How come you’ve never mentioned him before?”
Miyuki laughed as he caught and threw again. He took a moment before settling back into the crouch to wave his glove around in a gesture that encompassed the whole bullpen and everyone not doing a great job of pretending they weren’t eavesdropping.
“Cause mentioning him has been a great idea so far.”
Fortunately, Katsumata wasn’t deterred. “Come on, you can’t blame us for being curious.”
“I can’t?” replied Miyuki amused.
“I mean you’ve never mentioned him. You’ve never been seen with anyone. Has he even been to one of our games?” Katsumata’s eyes went comically wide. “Does he not like baseball?”
At that, Miyuki, who had the fewest passed balls in the league, almost dropped Usami’s pitch because he was laughing so hard.
“He loves baseball,” said Miyuki, still half laughing. “He could have gone pro if he hadn’t chosen to go to med school.”
Katsumata glanced at Usami who just shrugged. “Your boyfriend could have gone pro but went to school to become a doctor instead?”
“Yup,” replied Miyuki. “In America.”
“Right. In America,” drawled Katsumata. “Sounds fake, but okay.”
Miyuki shook his head and laughed.
---
Miyuki had his earbuds in and a scorebook out. Everyone knew that this was his routine on every road trip. Usami assumed Miyuki had a similar routine for every home game too. The only difference was he prepared in private somewhere and not on the train.
As a pitcher it was reassuring and as much as Usami agreed that Miyuki was an asshole, he was an asshole who he trusted to know what he was doing. It was why everyone left Miyuki alone while they traveled. Even the seat next to him was empty.
And then there was Katsumata.
He was sitting in the seat in front of Miyuki--or was. He stood up and turned. Reaching over his seat to pull one of Miyuki’s earbuds out.
“So,” said Katsumata. “This boyfriend of yours.”
Usami wasn’t the only person who groaned because winning a bet was all well and good, but winning games was even better.
Except Miyuki smiled and said, “What about Chris?”
Katsumata had opened his mouth to say something and promptly closed it. He blinked a couple of times and then tried again. “What?”
Miyuki snorted. “You were asking about my boyfriend Chris.”
“Your boyfriend in America is named Chris?” Katsumata laughed. “Come on, seriously? You’re not making this shit up?”
“Why would I make it up?” asked Miyuki and Usami was glad he still seemed amused by the whole situation.
“Prove it then,” said Katsumata. “You’ve gotta have a picture of the guy, right?”
Miyuki gave a small, half shrug and picked up his phone. It looked like he was scrolling through his photos before he stopped and turned the phone around for Katsumata to see.
“Holy shit, no way! This is like a stock photo or something.”
And, yeah, that got everyone’s attention.
Usami was out of his seat and leaning over Katsumata’s shoulder to get a look--and well, Katsumata kind of did have a point. The guy was very good looking. Tousled hair. Strong jawline. Confident smile. And if everything Miyuki was saying was true then damn.
“You’re telling me that this guy--” said Katsumata who shamelessly passed Miyuki’s phone on to the next curious teammate. “Could have played professional baseball but decided to become a doctor instead and he looks like this?”
“His name is Chris. And yes.”
“Bullshit,” said Katsumata.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” said Miyuki as he took back his phone and put in his earbuds again. “But he’ll be at the next homestand.”
“What!”
---
Their first game back home after the road trip ended with a close loss to Buffalos. And really it could have been worse, but the new kid, Toda, held the middle innings after Furumoto gave up six runs in three innings. And Miyuki hit a three run home run in the eighth to get them within one run, but in the end, they couldn’t do anything against the Buffalos closer.
Usami yawned as he adjusted his duffle bag on his shoulder and pushed open the door to the locker room. He started walking down the hallway towards the employee parking lot, but slowed as he heard voices—
“—couldn’t snap Furumoto out of it fast enough.”
And it was Miyuki’s voice but the tone was one Usami had never heard out of him before. He sounded almost regretful.
“His breaking ball wasn’t breaking enough.” And Usami turned the corner in time to see the speaker shrug before adding, “Every pitcher has their off days.”
Miyuki grinned. “It’s literally my job to find a way around that.”
“Sometimes you can’t. You’re good, you’re not that good, Kazuya.”
It was the teasing tone that had Usami coming to a total standstill. No one talked to Miyuki like that and if they did, they never did it twice because when it came to words no one knew how to casually eviscerate someone like Miyuki Kazuya.
Miyuki laughed and it was a little self-deprecating. “Can’t blame me for trying.”
“Blame you? No. Love you for it. Yeah.”
Oh.
Oh. And the use of the given name.
Oh. And the Hawks home jersey with Miyuki’s name on the back.
The nail biter of a game was enough of a distraction that Usami had forgotten about Miyuki Kazuya’s boyfriend from America.
It was a little hard to forget about him now.
The photo Miyuki showed the team hadn’t captured just how tall and broad shouldered his boyfriend was. And Usami wasn’t sure how it was possible but he was maybe even better looking in person?
Like what the hell?
Miyuki Kazuya’s boyfriend in America turned and Usami belatedly realized he had said that last question out loud.
“Hello,” said Miyuki Kazuya’s boyfriend. “Usami right?”
Miyuki rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to be so polite.”
“Oh? Okay then.” And Usami found himself being looked up and down with a critical expression. “You’ve got a good fastball and changeup and a decent split-finger, but you tend to fade in the later innings. You should focus on strengthening your legs and core to help with stamina.”
And it all suddenly made a weird kind of sense why these two were dating.
Usami huffed a laugh. “You two really are together, aren’t you?”
Before either Miyuki or his boyfriend could reply there was a loud, annoying laugh.
“Usami! You have stamina problems?” asked Katsumata as he rounded the corner and then came to a dead stop. “Holy shit, you’re real.”
And Katsumata walked right up and circled around Miyuki’s boyfriend. Even going so far as to pat his shoulder as if checking that he really was real.
“Or being paid to be here. If Miyuki paid you you’re legally obligated to tell us. Also, the jersey was a bit much.”
“Wow,” replied Miyuki’s boyfriend dryly. “They really didn’t believe you.”
Miyuki shrugged. “It was about forty-sixty in the betting pool.”
And Usami had the sinking feeling that Miyuki only knew that based on deduction. The guy was kind of scary like that.
Toda glanced up from his phone as he walked into the hall. That in itself was surprising. The kid was practically glued to his phone. What was more surprising was how he suddenly froze and said, “Oh. That’s Takigawa Chris Yuu.”
Usami glanced at the kid. “You know him?”
Toda was shaking his head. “Not personally. I saw him play in the Tokyo Big6 league. He was a starter for Hosei University.”
“Oh,” said Usami. “So...he really could have gone pro?”
“Yeah, probably,” said Toda. “It was a surprise when he didn’t enter the draft. I always wondered what happened to him.”
“Apparently becoming Miyuki Kazuya’s doctor boyfriend,” muttered Usami.
“Well, yeah,” said Toda who had already turned his attention back to his phone. “I knew that.”
“Wait,” said Katsumata as he spun around. “What?”
“They went to Seido together,” said Toda with a shrug. He ducked his head as he walked past Miyuki and his boyfriend. “Takigawa-san.”
“Hey, Toda,” called Miyuki. “You did good tonight.”
Toda paused and ducked his head again before he disappeared down the hall.
“Wait,” said Katsumata. “What?”
Miyuki flashed a shit-eating grin. “I think the kid just won the bet.”
“Oh, hell no,” groaned Katsumata who turned towards Usami. “Is that true?”
“Does it matter? You sure as hell didn’t win.”
“My pride might never recover,” said Katsumata dramatically.
Usami scoffed. “What pride?”
And Katsumata was surely about to say something ridiculous when they were both interrupted by Takigawa and Miyuki laughing.
And Usami was stunned all over because Miyuki was laughing--not sarcastically, not mockingly, he was just genuinely laughing. And he leaned into Takigawa and dropped his forehead onto his shoulder. And Takigawa wrapped a hand around the back of Miyuki’s neck and Miyuki glanced up at him and...
And he looked so…
“Shit. I really did lose the bet,” said Katsumata as he made a vague gesture towards Miyuki. “You look so...happy.”
“Well, yeah,” replied Miyuki as if that was obvious. He then looped his arm through Takigawa’s. “Ready to go home, babe?”
Takigawa grinned at him. “Sure, sweetheart.”
And Usami was pretty sure they were making fun of them...but he wasn’t completely sure. The way they looked at each other...well…
Katsumata was shaking his head as he watched them walk away. “I still don’t believe it.”
And Usami knew what he meant. Who would have guessed?
Miyuki Kazuya, the unfeeling asshole who cared about nothing except baseball--
And his boyfriend.