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Mei looks forward to every time that Miyuki comes to Inashiro, whether that's a brief visit for fun, or because of more formal baseball related reasons. This, an exhibition match with an American team, might actually be the best reason he's come to visit, since it's a longer trip than usual (which still isn't much) and they'll be playing together.
He's been insufferable for the week or so leading up to this, and he knows it.
Actually, he's usually kind of insufferable, but no one on Inashiro has been able to tell whether or not this Kazuya-related behavior is easier to deal with than his regular kind.
(On the one hand, it has nothing to do with them, so they can wash their hands clean of it, but on the other, Mei's impatience is at a special level now and it impacts just about everything he does.)
Of course, he's also had his phone in his hand near-constantly, too, to the point that Coach Kunitomo has actually had to yell at Mei to get him onto the field.
So, yeah, the rest of Inashiro is pretty aware that Mei still has it really bad for Miyuki Kazuya.
It still makes Shirakawa want to gag, but Carlos has grown sort of fond of it, or at the very least amused.
MEI: so
KAZUYA: 15 hours until im there i know
MEI: omg you remember
KAZUYA: no i can just do math from the last time you told me how many hours it would be
MEI: stop ruining it!!!!!!
"Stop smiling at your phone," Shirakawa snaps at him over breakfast.
"No." Mei sticks his chin up, petulant, continues tapping away at his phone screen.
MEI: say something cute so i can read it out loud and make everybody jealous
KAZUYA: no
MEI: why
KAZUYA: i dont like when you can prove i said anything
MEI: why
KAZUYA: i dont trust you with it
Mei scowls.
MEI: i've done nothing wrong ever in my life
KAZUYA: nice meme
MEI: its true
KAZUYA: lol
◇
KAZUYA: bad news
MEI: ????
KAZUYA: traffic gonna be an hour or two late
MEI: NO
MEI: thats not fair
MEI: make it up to me when you get here
KAZUYA: no lol its not like i did it
MEI: uuuugggghghhhh
KAZUYA: i lied by the way
KAZUYA: the bus is pretty close
MEI: WHY! ARE YOU! LIKE THIS!
KAZUYA: you look cute when you pout
MEI: you can't even see me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KAZUYA: i know what it looks like
Mei sort of wants to throw his phone from how flustered he feels by that. 'You look cute when you pout' -- how dare Miyuki Kazuya. How dare he.
When the bus pulls in, Mei feels genuinely torn; does he give Kazuya what he wants? Should he let the pout stay on his features? It would mean Kazuya smiling at him while definitely, for certain, thinking that Mei was cute, which sounds kind of gratifying and nice. It just also means losing, sort of, and Mei doesn't like that at all, so.
He's smirking when Kazuya steps off the bus, but deep down (very lowkey) he still sort of takes Mei's breath away just because he's here.
"Welcome to my home field!" Mei says proudly, his chest puffed out a little. He manages to retain that smug look for only a few seconds before they're both grinning at each other and Mei's certain they look stupid but Kazuya is smiling at him in public, in front of other people, so!!
"Yeah, yeah," Kazuya says, rolling his eyes. "It's not the first time I've been here." Mei's heart absolutely does not skip a beat at the reminder, the memory of the times that he's visited just to see Mei.
He steals Kazuya away the minute he's able to, away from the coach and the rest of their fellow players, and it's nice that Miyuki looks kind of glad for it, too. It's comforting, thinking that he wasn't the only one who wanted to be alone.
As he's contemplating what to say, whether he should just go for a hug or what, Kazuya opens his mouth first.
"Where's a convenience store?"
...?????
That's incredibly unromantic and Mei feels a little bit irritated about it, actually...
"It's like, a 15 minute walk from campus. Why? Seriously, Kazuya? Did you forget toothpaste or something?"
Kazuya snorts at him, shakes his head.
"I was going to buy you ice cream."
Mei's stomach flips, and again he feels like it's just not fair, how easily Kazuya can get to him. He wishes he could do the same back, watch Kazuya go red from something as simple and trivial as ice cream.
(Mei does a better job of inspiring that sort of fond fluster in Miyuki than he knows, just because Miyuki's very practiced at keeping it all under wraps. It doesn't mean he's never buried his face in his own pillow at a text, or that he's never felt his chest ache from affection.)
(One day, he'll probably tell Mei that.)
(Probably.)
"You don't like sweets," Mei says, almost like it's an accusation.
"That's why I said I was buying you it."
Mei loves him, he really loves him.
"Is this your idea of a date, Kazuya?" He saves face by sounding unimpressed, judgmental, like this just isn't up to his standards, even though convenience store ice cream is more than enough for Mei.
"Well, yeah, kinda. It's the best we're gonna get with our practice schedule."
Kazuya wasn't supposed to agree! He wasn't supposed to admit that he was actually trying to fit in some sort of date-like thing despite how busy they'd be!
He must have taken too long to respond, though, because Kazuya starts smiling in this way that's amused and fond and a little wry, like Mei should be embarrassed or something, and he is, but he also loves that expression. "You gonna lead the way or not?"
What's worse is that Kazuya is the one who reaches out and takes Mei's hand, which is something he'd hardly been prepared for. Mei is... sort of used to being the one to initiate things, but sometimes Kazuya takes him by surprise like this. It's as if he works himself up to do these things all at once, spends a visit showing a particularly affectionate side of himself.
It never gets any less overwhelming, but Mei loves it. He squeezes Kazuya's hand hard, leans against Kazuya's side as they walk, and Kazuya lets him, even though their arms brush constantly and it's kind of annoying and their feet hit each other ever so often.
They take more than 15 minutes to get there because of how intensely Mei is clinging, but Kazuya doesn't even complain.
Instead, he just buys Mei his favorite rum raisin when they get there, and they linger outside the store while Mei eats it, chatting. It's mostly stuff about the upcoming practice, the other players who were invited, some speculation on the American athletes, and it's… normal. Mei complains about a test he had recently and Kazuya snickers at him for it, Kazuya complains all exaggeratedly about how overworked his team has him feeling but it's obvious that he loves every minute of it and Mei doesn't hesitate to call him out on that.
They smile a lot. It feels good.
They have to head back eventually, there's no avoiding that much, but Mei still feels kind of disappointed when he tosses away his trash.
It gets easier to deal with the feeling when Kazuya takes his hand again.
About halfway back, Mei breaks the silence.
Or, tries to.
"I --"
"-- missed me? I know," Kazuya cuts in, grinning. Mei feels indignant at being interrupted, even if what he was going to say was predictable. "Mei," Kazuya says again, like he's trying to get his attention, but Mei refuses to give in.
Until Kazuya stops walking and tugs on his hand, at least. Mei turns then, but hardly gets a chance to breathe, let alone react, before Kazuya leans in.
It's a bad habit of Kazuya's, using actions where he should probably use his words, but Mei decides to let it slide this time. It's hard to complain about being kissed, after all.
The kiss isn't half-hearted, either. Kazuya's lips are pressed firmly to his own, his eyes already shut before Mei has a chance to let his own recover from growing bigger in surprise and close.
Bluntly, Kazuya's mouth is the focal point here, but there is still a distant part of Mei's brain that recognizes that they just happened to get lucky and be in an alley without anyone else around (part of the route back, the short cut that shaves off a couple minutes of travel time), but if he'd said it a few minutes earlier, or later, would Kazuya have kissed him then too?
Probably not.
Mei likes to think he would have thought about it, though.
He's not going to waste a minute either way, just puts his own pressure into the kiss until Kazuya pulls back a fraction just to kiss him again. Mei has to take a step closer and steady himself with a hand on Kazuya's chest, suddenly feeling weak in all sorts of ways.
They stay like that for a while, trading kisses back and forth, open-mouthed but hardly heated. It's soft and it makes Mei's heart hurt, but he doesn't deny Kazuya anything, not a single kiss and not a single sound of his enjoyment.
Eventually Kazuya pulls away, which makes Mei's eyes flutter open. The sight that greets them is more of a treat than the ice cream had been, Kazuya smiling with the beginnings of a flush in his cheeks.
Mei thinks he must be beaming.
"Yuck," Kazuya says, scrunching up his nose. Mei lets out a strangled squawk of a noise, affronted. "I don't like sweets! Even secondhand," Kazuya continues, as if that explanation makes it any less rude.
"You're still not supposed to say that after you kiss someone!"
"I thought you knew I liked kissing you," Kazuya teases, feigned innocence in his tone. Mei hates him.
Mei loves him so much, actually.
"Shut up," he grumbles, dragging Kazuya by the hand to make their way back to the school grounds.
"Was this one of your spots, by the way?" Mei must look confused, because he clarifies a beat later. "One of the spots we could make out here. You said you had a list." Mei goes very pink himself, then.
"Maybe." It wasn't, if he's truthful, but it is now. He'll probably never take this walk again without thinking about it and getting butterflies, because that's what Miyuki Kazuya does to a person.
He changes the subject, then, to prevent being made fun of any further. "It's cold," Mei complains, sounding a bit like the weather was doing this on purpose just to spite him.
Kazuya snorts.
"No, it's really not."
"I just had ice cream!"
Kazuya still looks skeptical.
"Ah, here, since I have my jacket. You can wear it," he offers, quite magnanimous, really, and starts to unzip it.
Mei smacks his hand away from the zipper.
"No! Absolutely not! There's no way I'm wearing that, especially not in public! It's from the enemy!"
"You were just kissing the enemy," Kazuya reminds him, ever so helpfully.
"That's different! I wanted your arm around me, not that!"
"Not my fault if you get a cold and can't play tomorrow, then."
Mei scowls.
"You probably gave me the ice cream on purpose anyway! To make sure I wasn't eating healthy! So I'd be in bad shape for tomorrow! All so that you don't have to catch for me!"
That's definitely not true, but Kazuya laughs and nods anyway. "You got me."
Mei complains about the entire thing at dinner, which doubles as an opportunity for him to brag that he has a boyfriend who buys him food and offers his jacket, and Kazuya doesn't even look uncomfortable the entire time Mei talks.
◇
"I hate the top bunk," Kazuya says under his breath, climbing up after Mei and awkwardly crawling forward to get situated. Should Mei be sneaking Kazuya into his rooms for more kissing? Absolutely not. Is he doing it anyway and getting away with it? Yes. There's no sign on his door that says 'do not disturb' but practically the entirety of Inashiro knows Mei would screech his fury at them for interrupting.
It's not like they're doing anything like that, though it's also not like Mei hasn't thought about it. They're just kissing, it's just nice to be alone and be close, to feel Kazuya's warmth nearer to him.
(If they were going to do anything, it'd probably be at Kazuya's house, since Mei's sisters and parents are home far more often than Kazuya's dad is.)
Mei flings the blankets over them both, ready to cuddle up to him and get started, but he narrows his eyes first, possibly pouting.
"Stop whining. And take the stupid jacket off, first. Don't make me look at that in my own bed."
Kazuya laughs at him, openly, right in his face, and then straightens up enough to shrug it off and toss it over the side of the bed onto the floor. Mei tries to pretend that isn't sort of hot.
He sighs, like he's deeply put out, and flops back down on his side next to Mei. "Happy now?"
It's an innocent question, probably not meant to be anything heavy or as anything more than in the moment, but that doesn't stop Mei from answering it like it was.
"Yeah." It's soft, delivered as gently as he reaches out to pull off Kazuya's glasses and set them aside. "I'm happy," he says, taking Miyuki's face between his palms, leaning in.
"Good." It's a whisper, and the look in Kazuya's eyes is so intense that Mei hardly knows how to handle it. He feels warm all over, vaguely wishes they were alone, really alone, but Kazuya just kisses his thoughts away.
Kazuya kisses him until Mei's hands are buried in his hair, brows furrowed, breath coming short whenever they part slightly. He kisses him until he decides he shouldn't anymore, starting to pull back for real, which means maybe Kazuya has a better hold on the passage of time right now than he does, but Mei tugs him back, frowning. "Nonono, not yet," Mei pleads with him.
He can't tell whether the way Kazuya groans when they kiss again is enjoyment or annoyance, or maybe both, but it doesn't really matter.
Eventually, with great reluctance, Mei lets Kazuya pull away entirely, watches him reach for his glasses. This time he doesn't bother to hide his pout once the world comes back into focus for Kazuya.
He gets a smile for his lack of effort. "Good night, Mei," Kazuya says, kissing his cheek. He crawls out of the bed, makes his way down the ladder and to the door, pausing there. "Love you." It's not that loud, but it still makes Mei feel so much. He can hear Kazuya start to turn the door handle, but he's not going to get to run away without hearing it back first.
"Love you too."
Mei's pretty sure there's a soft chuckle before Kazuya ducks out of his room and that's not fair either! He spends a solid 10 minutes with his pillow over his face, going over the memories of it all, even though it just happened. The warmth in Kazuya's voice as he'd said it all, how obviously he'd wanted to keep kissing, too...
It's the best possible thing that Mei could fall asleep thinking of.
◇
In the morning, which comes quicker than Mei wants it to, he spies something on his floor that hadn't been there the day before, he's sure.
Then it hits him: it's the damn jacket. The jacket that symbolizes Kazuya dumping him, practically, choosing another school over their own teamwork. Childishly, Mei kicks it and watches it sweep over his floor.
Then he trots over and picks it up, looks at the letters on it, glaring as he runs his fingers over them.
With a heavy sigh, Mei straightens the jacket out and slips it on. It doesn't feel as wrong as he'd expected, probably partly because it smells like Kazuya, and partly because... a part of Mei belongs to Seidou, too. The boy he loves is there, so half of his heart, or maybe all of it, is at Seidou, too.
Mei knows he's weak, or at least to Kazuya he is. It's that very weakness that makes him grab his phone.
MEI: come back to my room real quick
MEI: like before breakfast
KAZUYA: why
MEI: JUST DO IT???
Much like Kazuya had refused to leave written evidence of his fondness, Mei's absolutely not leaving any of his betrayal of Inashiro.
So when there's a knock on the door, Mei answers it with just his head peeking out, then yanks Kazuya inside as quick as he can. Kazuya is complaining, again, and slightly off-balance, but Mei steps back and just... lets him take in the sight. Looking unhappy all the while, mind you.
Kazuya grins.
"Looks good! Really cute on you, actually."
He takes some steps forward, kisses Mei soft on the mouth, and that's the only reason that Kazuya manages to get his phone out.
The next thing Mei hears is the unmistakable sound of a camera shutter and he's flailing right away, not sure whether he wants to try and get the jacket off or just whack Kazuya for taking a picture...!
"Kazuya!! Nobody can see me in this! It's humiliating! I hate these colors! This isn't cute at all, delete that right now!"
Kazuya already has one hand on the door handle, though, and he's slipping out with something that can only really be described as a cackle.
"See you at breakfast, Mei!"
◇
Kazuya doesn't tell anyone, not outright, but he keeps sneaking smirks at Mei that have Mei kicking him under the table in response.
Once, halfway through Mei's glass of orange juice, Kazuya muses on changing his phone background aloud for the entire table to hear. Mei chokes, and the resulting expressions on his teammates' faces make Mei actually reach out to throttle his own boyfriend.
◇
Practice is kind of rough. Mei concedes that maybe he could have gotten more sleep. It's sort of worth it to watch Kazuya have to play on base and suffer like a fish out of water, though. Serves him right for documenting Mei's shame.
◇
Dinner, though.
Dinner is Mei's win.
He shows up in Kazuya's jacket with his head held high. Carlos whistles at him like he's implying something and no, it's not like that, but if people think that, that's fine.
Kazuya looks surprised, eyebrows raised, and that's satisfying.
But Mei's not done.
He proudly declares to the rest of the table, to all his friends: "he's wearing mine next time." A challenge, publicly issued. Mei smirks at Kazuya like he dares him to turn it down.
Kazuya looks at him for what feels like a long moment, like he's considering something, before he finally grins again.
Just as Mei had started to feel sort of anxious, like he'd pushed again, that smile settles him.
"I could do that," Kazuya says, and Mei does not at all expect the way he leans in to brush his lips over Mei's cheek in front of everyone.
Mei loves him, really loves him and appreciates him for how hard he tries, how none of this is natural for Kazuya but he does it anyway because he knows that Mei has always hoped for PDA and that ability to show off a little. He really loves Kazuya so much, doesn't regret anything for a second if this is where they're at now, if this is how Kazuya had to get here.
"If it fits, I mean," he finishes, snickering, and Mei immediately takes back every sappy thought he's ever had.