Work Text:
“No.”
“Chris, come on, man.”
“No way.”
Jun knew that asking Chris was a long shot, but he hadn’t expected to be shut down so quickly or so adamantly. On top of that, he didn’t have a plan for how to change Chris’ mind. For some reason Jun thought that he could make this up as he went. Silly, really. It wasn’t as if he had any experience asking someone to be his date to his sister's wedding even as a friend.
It wasn’t as if he had any experience asking someone out on a date. Period.
“Please?” said Jun as he paced back and forth in his bedroom. “You’re my last hope.”
Chris laughed. “We both know that’s not true.”
Jun scrubbed his face with his free hand. “No. No way.”
“Is there an actual reason why you don’t want to ask Tetsu or just the usual?”
Jun pulled the phone away from his ear in order to glare at it. It wasn’t very satisfying.
“What do you mean ‘just the usual’?” grumbled Jun.
“Oh, you know, how you’ve been in love with him since about Second Year,” replied Chris, sounding way too amused for Jun’s liking.
“I am not in love with him,” said Jun. Chris didn’t say anything. He didn’t say anything for so long Jun yelled, “I’m not in love with him!”
“Hai, hai,” replied Chris. “I heard you the first time.”
“Then say something, you bastard!”
“Ask Tetsu.”
“Say something else.”
“Jun…”
Jun sighed. “Look, I can’t ask him because I can’t stand around at my sister’s wedding and listen to Tetsu tell all of my relatives how he’s going pro and...and...I’m not.”
Chris was quiet again, but this quiet felt different from before. Eventually Chris said, “You haven’t talked to Tetsu in awhile, have you?”
“I mean…” started Jun as he wracked his brain for the last time he had talked to Tetsu--actually talked to him. Not just quick, ‘Happy New Year’ or ‘Happy Birthday’ texts. “I guess it has been awhile.”
“Call Tetsu,” said Chris gently. “He’ll be happy to hear from you and I’m sure you’ll be happy to talk to him.”
“You really don’t want to go to this wedding, do you?” muttered Jun.
“Jun, I don't know if you've forgotten, but I am going pro and I’m really good at being charming with families. Trust me, you don’t want me going to this wedding either.”
Jun barked out a laugh. “I guess that’s true.”
“If you are going to be in Tokyo, I’d love to see you though.”
“Yeah. We’ll have to catch up.”
“And Jun?”
Jun sighed again. Loudly. “I know. Call Tetsu.”
Chris laughed. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah. Later.”
Jun hung up and tossed his phone on his bed before immediately hitting his head against the nearest wall.
He was so, so screwed.
---
For the most part, Jun had managed to dodge the wedding preparations. There was only so much he could do from Kansai. He had, however, somehow ended up with the job of wrangling Ichika who was being uncharacteristically dramatic about the whole thing.
“I just love him so much,” whined Ichika.
Her words were running together and her inflection was all over the place. And Jun wondered, not for the first time, why he had become his oldest sister’s drunk dial.
“It’s a good thing you’re marrying him then,” replied Jun as he set aside his English textbook resigning himself to this conversation.
“Yes! I’m so lucky!” exclaimed Ichika so enthusiastically Jun had to pull the phone away from his ear. “Juuuuun, I’m twenty-eight. I’m so old.”
Jun rolled his eyes. “You’re not old.”
“I’m so old to be getting married.”
“You’re never too old to get married.”
“I know that, you bastard,” insisted Ichika. Jun snort laughed because Ichika was a pediatrician and had worked extra hard to drop her habit of swearing. She wasn’t always successful. “I mean...I mean I thought I wouldn’t get married at all. You know? And I was fine with that. I was happy and then--bam! You know?”
Jun had no idea, but he still said, “Un huh. Are you with anyone right now?”
“Yup, Misato and Ayane are here with me. They’re my friends, but they’re not my best friend. I’m marrying my best friend. Juuuun, you should marry your best friend.”
Jun swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat. That was not a train of thought he wanted to follow. At all.
He cleared his throat. “Text me when you get home, Ichika. And drink some water, okay?”
“Roger.” Ichika giggled. “Who’s the older sibling here?”
“Maybe stop drunk dialing me then,” grumbled Jun though there was no heat to his words.
He honestly didn’t mind. The six years between them meant that for most of Jun’s life Ichika had been more like another adult instead of a sister. It was nice to have reached the point where they both could just be siblings again.
“You’re the best, Juuuun!” Ichika then loudly whispered. “Don’t tell Akari.”
Jun laughed. “Don’t pick a favorite sibling then.”
“I don’t have a favorite,” and it sounded like Ichika was pouting. “But she would have just yelled at me.”
Jun shook his head. “I love you. And seriously drink some water. I don’t want to hear you bitching about a hangover.”
“Hai, hai, I am a doctor, you know,” said Ichika. “Love you too, Jun.”
Jun hung up and tossed his phone aside. He tried to focus on finishing his English homework but eventually decided the whole thing was a wash. Who was he trying to kid? It wasn’t like he would be able to focus on anything else. Not with Ichika’s words rattling around in his head.
You should marry your best friend.
Jun scrubbed his face with his hands and sighed.
---
It wasn’t like Jun had promised Chris to call Tetsu right away.
And really, this was him learning his lesson. There were just some things that you couldn’t make up on the fly.
And asking your best friend--that you definitely did not have a crush on--to be your date for your sister’s wedding was something that required time for contemplation and strategizing. There were word choices and sentence structure to consider. The tone of voice needed to be scrutinized. He had to be friendly, but not too friendly. And--
Jun jumped as his phone buzzed. He flipped it open and scowled at the message from Chris.
Just call him already.
“How the hell--?” Jun cut himself off as his phone buzzed again.
If you don’t, I swear I’ll tell Ryosuke.
Jun gave an annoyed tsk as he typed out: That’s just playing dirty.
Why are you so scared? It’s just Tetsu.
If this conversation were happening in person Jun would have gotten in Chris’ face. Even now his first instinct was to throw his phone against the wall. Because--because--
Jun scrolled through his phone contacts. He wasn’t scared. Because if he were scared that would mean he was admitting to things that were definitely, for sure, not true. And since they weren’t true. He wasn’t scared. So, Jun hit the call button and put the phone against his ear and--
“Moshi, moshi.”
And, shit, Jun didn’t actually have a plan for this. Damn you, Chris!
“Jun?”
“Hey, Tetsu.” Jun let out a sharp laugh. “Ah, long time no talk.”
Jun slapped his forehead because--what?
Fortunately, Tetsu didn’t seem to mind.
“It has been awhile.”
“Yeah,” said Jun as he looked down. “Sorry about that.”
Tetsu hummed. “Don’t worry about it.”
“So, um, how’ve you been?”
“Good.”
“Good. That’s...um...good. Look, Tetsu. I...um...” Jun bit back a groan and tried again. “I don’t know if I mentioned before that Ichika is getting married in Tokyo next month.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks--the thing is I need a date and if I don’t find one for myself my mom has threatened to set me up on one.”
Tetsu was quiet for an unnerving amount of time and Jun tried to remind himself that this was just something he did and was in no way an indicator that--
“Are you asking me to be your date to your sister’s wedding?”
“Yeah,” said Jun with a nervous laugh. “You know, as a favor to a friend.”
Tetsu was quiet again. If he said ‘no’ Jun’s only other option was asking Tanba or Takako and then...Ryosuke. And Jun shuddered to think what Ryosuke would be like at a wedding. Maybe Masuko would agree--
“Sure.”
“I mean, if you can’t I underst--wait. What?”
“I’ll be your date to your sister’s wedding.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, Jun, I’m sure.”
Jun frowned...was Tetsu laughing at him? It was hard to tell in person let alone over the phone.
“Okay. Okay, good. Thanks, Tetsu.”
With that out of the way Jun found himself relaxing into the conversation. He really had missed talking to Tetsu. Even if Tetsu never really said much it was nice to hear about how school was going and how his team was doing (even though Jun followed Meiji University pretty closely.)
Overall, Jun was feeling better as he wrapped up the phone call and emailed Tetsu the details of the wedding. He then collapsed onto his bed with a loud, exhale of breath. He did, however, text Chris because feeling better or not Jun had not forgotten about his betrayal.
I hate you. I can’t believe people think you’re charming.
It worked didn’t it?
You’re a real crafty bastard you know that.
You’re welcome.
---
The truth was...Jun knew exactly what Ichika had been talking about.
Jun had gone to Seido with a goal, with a clearly defined plan. None of which included making friends...or falling in love. Then again, how could Jun have anticipated someone like Yuuki Tetsuya?
Someone so awkward and so socially inept and so terrible at first base and so serious and so focused and so determined to be better, to be the best that before Jun realized it Tetsu had become the pillar of their team and a pillar in his life.
Chris was right and wrong about Jun being in love with Tetsu since Second Year. There wasn’t a specific moment or a specific time. One day they were teammates and rivals. Then one day they were friends. One day Jun was fine. He was happy with his life and his goals. And then one day--bam!
In Jun’s mind, the sound sounded a lot like the clang of the bat.
---
Jun was looking at his phone when Ichika walked into the room. He had been staring at a text message Tetsu had sent him that morning.
I’m looking forward to seeing you.
Frustratingly enough staring at the message didn’t reveal any greater secrets. And really, Jun knew better than to try to decipher any deeper meaning behind Tetsu’s words. The guy was always straight forward with what he meant. It hadn’t stopped Jun from maybe hoping that there was something more--
Ichika cleared her throat and Jun looked up and almost dropped his phone.
Jun had been sent so, so many photos of wedding dresses. Like so many. It was one thing to look at a dress on a cellphone it was another thing to see his sister wearing one.
Ichika had gone with a simple dress with a short veil. Her hair was pulled back into a soft bun. She didn’t look like a princess. She looked like herself. And she looked beautiful.
“Oh, no you don’t!” shouted Ichika as she pointed a finger at Jun. “Do not start crying. I swear if you start crying then I’ll start crying and I paid too much money for this makeup to ruin it before the ceremony even starts.”
Jun bit his lip but he could still feel it trembling as he fought back the tears in his eyes. “You look beautiful, Ichika.”
Ichika immediately made him out to be a liar as she scrunched up her face in a truly awful looking expression as she fought back her own tears.
Which was, of course, when Akari snapped a photo of them.
“Oh, that’s a good one,” said Akari who was grinning wildly. “That’s totally going to be my new lockscreen photo.” Ichika and Jun both flipped her off. Akari snickered as she held up her phone and took another photo. “And there’s the wallpaper.”
“Ugh,” said Ichika as she rolled her eyes. “Get over here, Akari.”
Akari smiled as she let herself get pulled into their group hug.
“I love you two,” said Ichika. “I’m so glad you’re here with me.”
Jun pulled away so he could wipe his eyes. “Seriously, you’re going to have to cut that shit out if you don’t want me crying.”
“Don’t worry, I got you,” said Akari and she proceeded to pull tissues out of her bra.
“Ugh, I don’t want your boob tissues,” said Jun as he took the tissues.
Akari laughed and punched his arm because she might have been wearing a pale pink dress and heels but she was still an Isashiki.
“Okay, okay,” said Ichika as she also took one of Akari’s tissues. She dabbed carefully at the corners of her eyes and turned towards Jun. “You saw me and I saw you. Now can you please go find the rest of the groomsmen because I have a feeling Daiki is also a mess right now and I don’t trust any of his brothers to take care of him because if you think we’re cry babies you’ve never seen the Kaji family have it out.”
Jun barked out a laugh. “I’m on it. Akari, do you have any more tissues?”
Akari looked down at her cleavage. “How much do you need?”
“Ugh, no. I mean do you know where there’s a box of tissues?”
“I’m pretty sure mom brought extra.” Akari’s smile turned so sharp, so fast that Jun got close to no warning before his sister asked, “So, when do we get to meet your date?”
“Oh! The famous Yuuki Tetsuya,” said Ichika, the traitor. “I can’t believe one of us had to get married in order for us to finally meet him.”
“It’s not--we’re not--” sputtered Jun. “He’s just my friend.”
“Who you wax poetically about,” said Akari and she dropped her voice into an admittedly decent impersonation of Jun. “Oh, Tetsu. He’s so manly and so stoic and so good at baseball.”
“I don’t--”
“You do,” cut in Ichika. Seriously, the traitor. She did lay a hand on Jun’s arm and Jun recognized it as a peace offering. “I’m glad you invited him.”
Jun let out a long breath. “Yeah, yeah. Let me go take care of your cry baby fiance.”
Ichika and Akari both grinned at him before pulling him into one last group hug.
Jun grudgingly returned it. “I love you, you assholes.”
---
Ichika had not been kidding. Daiki and both of his brothers were already crying their eyes out. Jun was passing out handfuls of tissue in between running around directing the florist and handing out programs and helping one of Daiki’s elderly aunts find somewhere to sit and he was still holding his boutonniere because he hadn’t found time to try to pin it on and--
“Jun.”
Jun spun around and almost cussed in the middle of the church, in front of Daiki’s elderly aunt because--holy shit--Yuuki Tetsuya was a sight for sore eyes.
And it wasn’t just the suit--but also Tetsu was wearing a suit and he looked damn good in it--it was Jun failing to realize what it would be like to see Tetsu again after years of not seeing him in person. It was like...like a piece of him that he didn’t even realize was missing slid back into place where it belonged.
And that piece was shaped like Tetsu. Like Tetsu in a suit. Holy shit. Jun was in so much trouble.
“Tetsu, hey,” said Jun and he hoped he didn’t sound as breathless as he felt. “It’s good to see you.”
Tetsu walked right up to Jun and kept walking up and he lifted his arms and--oh. Okay. They were hugging. That was...new but not unwelcome and Jun tried not to melt too much. And--what the hell--did Tetsu grow a couple of more inches? And--his arms. Shit. Jun thought Tetsu was strong when he used to swing 500 times a day back in High School. What the hell had he been doing since then and--
And then Tetsu kissed his cheek.
And Jun’s brain short circuited.
“I missed you,” murmured Tetsu against his neck and that was not helping Jun’s poor thought process.
Jun only snapped out of it because Daiki’s elderly aunt giggled and said, “Oh my!”
Oh my, indeed.
“What the hell,” breathed Jun as he pulled away. Tetsu still had a hand wrapped around Jun’s hip and was looking at him...fondly?
“What the hell,” said Jun again because one time hadn’t been enough.
“Isashiki!” called one of Daiki’s brothers from the entryway of the church. “We’re lining up!”
“Right,” replied Jun and it came out sounding...strangled. So he tried again. “Right! I’ll be right there.”
And Jun proceeded to extricate himself from Tetsu’s strong embrace--and what the hell?? His arms. Except Tetsu snagged his wrist before he could fully escape and Jun wanted to growl because what now?? His poor heart couldn’t take this--
“Your boutonniere,” said Tetsu as he plucked the tiny flower arrangement from Jun’s hand.
And Jun was forced to once again stand within very close proximity to his long time crush--there he finally admitted it, damn it--who had just kissed his cheek as if that was something they did. As if it wasn’t wreaking havoc with everything Jun believed to be true. Up was down. Right was left. And Yuuki Tetsu had kissed his cheek!
Tetsu’s hands were steady on Jun’s jacket as he pinned the boutonniere on to his lapel. He took a moment to study his work before giving a satisfied nod.
“You look good, Jun.”
And nope. Nope, nope, nope--
“You too,” blurted out Jun because he had no sense of self preservation apparently. And he was probably violently blushing. And Jun needed to get out of here right now. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you later. Okay. Bye.”
Jun didn’t run away. He didn’t. He might have power walked. Just a bit.
He power walked out of the church and Jun thought he was safe--right up until Daiki’s brother clapped him on the shoulder and asked, “Is that the famous Yuuki Tetsuya I keep hearing about?”
Jun groaned. Loudly. “Shit. Not you too.”
---
All in all, it was a real snot filled wedding ceremony.
Ichika cried. Akari cried. Jun cried. Their parents cried. Daiki and his brothers and his parents were utter and complete messes. Just a whole family of real ugly criers.
And it was beautiful. And Jun knew that Ichika wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Jun held out his arm to Misato as the wedding party filed out of the church. Her and Ayane were both Ishika’s friends from med school. They had bonded through a shared study group and, Jun assumed, from occasionally heavily drinking together.
Misato was still wiping the tears from her eyes and Jun handed her a tissue. He was glad he had stuffed so many into his pockets because everyone was going through a ridiculous amount.
“Thank you,” said Misato as she took the tissue from him and slipped her arm through his. “I love a love story.”
“Yeah, me too,” agreed Jun a little wistfully because his sister had just gotten married and he was feeling mushy.
And if he looked at Tetsu as they walked down the aisle and if Tetsu smiled back at him in his reserved but reassuring way then who would know?
Misato squeezed his arm and smiled. “He’s cute.”
Everyone, apparently.
---
After wrapping up the obligatory church photos, Jun found Tetsu in the entryway; having been successfully cornered by what must have been half of the Isashiki clan.
Nothing ever phased Tetsu. Jun knew this. And yet, he was impressed all over again as he watched Tetsu field questions from his family--none of whom were being particularly subtle about their line of questioning. And Tetsu was just as blunt.
“I admire Jun a lot.”
There was nothing different about Tetsu’s inflection. He delivered the statement with his usual flat monotone. And that was the problem. It was a tone of voice that gave no ground, that left no room for argument. It was a tone of voice that transformed the simple sentence into a grand proclamation.
The certainty of it rattled Jun to his core. Like the reverberations of a metal bat connecting with a pitch--clang!
Bam!
“Alright, alright,” yelled Jun as he made shooing motions with his hands. “It’s an open bar at the reception. What are you all still doing here?”
And there was no way Jun wasn’t blushing. Not when his family insisted on saything things like, “Your boyfriend seems like a very sweet boy,” and “It’s about time you brought someone to meet the family,” and “Does he have a sibling/cousin/friend?”
Jun pinched the bridge of his nose as the last of his family finally filed out. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine,” said Tetsu. “Your family is nice.”
“They’re rowdy and nosey and have no volume control and I can’t believe Ichika thought it was a good idea to have an open bar. Also, what the hell, Tetsu? Are we dating or something?”
Tetsu blinked at him. “Oh. I thought we were fake dating.”
Of all the things that Jun thought Tetsu was going to say--
“What?!”
Tetsu frowned slightly as he cocked his head to the side. “You asked me to be your date because your mom wanted to set you up with someone.”
“Un huh,” said Jun and he made a hurry up motion because so far none of this explained why Tetsu thought that meant they were fake dating.
“Well,” said Tetsu as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out friggin’ notecards. “It is a common shoujo manga troupe that the two main characters fake date in order to avoid the matchmaking plans of a parental figure.”
There was a lot to digest there. But the one fact that Jun was hung up on--
“You read shoujo manga?”
“Yes.” Tetsu glanced down as he shuffled through his cards--and holy shit it looked like he color coded them. “I missed you.”
“Holy shit,” muttered Jun outloud. He ran his fingers through his hair a few times. “I watched Lone Wolf and Cub.”
Tetsu looked up at that. “And?”
“And it sucks,” replied Jun. “The baby murders people.”
Tetsu huffed a laugh. “But you watched it anyway.”
“Yeah.” Jun sighed and even though it was pretty obvious he still added, “I missed you too. I promise to be better at keeping in touch once I move back to Tokyo. I mean assuming you’re still going to be around after the draft--I guess we’ll have some time before Spring Training--”
“Wait,” said Tetsu as he reached out and snagged his sleeve. “You’re moving back?”
“Yeah,” replied Jun and he hesitated because the next part was a little harder to admit. “I got a teaching job and an assistant coaching job at Yakushi.”
“You’re coaching at Yakushi?”
Tetsu’s voice had less inflection than usual and that couldn’t be a good sign. It made Jun give a short, nervous laugh.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I kind of hate it. I bleed Seido colors, you know?” Jun ran a hand across the back of his neck and because this was Tetsu he admitted, “But Coach Tokodoki is still somehow putting together a competitive team despite it being a public school and...I don’t know, man. I’m...excited. And who knows? Maybe one day I’ll finally make it to Koshien?”
Jun couldn’t read the look on Tetsu's face. He didn’t look mad or sad or disappointed. Tetsu looked frozen in place. Like Jun had caught him so off guard his brain needed a full restart.
Jun gave another laugh that was abrupt even to his ears. “It’s a silly dream, I know. Forget it. Let’s get to the reception.”
Except Tetsu still hadn’t let go of his sleeve and he tugged at it until Jun turned back towards him.
“It’s not a silly dream,” said Tetsu in the tone of voice that had made him the only choice for Captain. “It’s not a silly dream because it’s my dream too. I took an assistant coaching job at Seido.”
Jun didn’t process what Tetsu said. Not right away at least. Not for an embarrassing amount of time. When he did--
“WHAT?!”
Tetsu looked around and dragged Jun out of the church and, yeah, that was probably a good idea. They were still in a public place and some of the wedding guests were still milling around and Jun couldn’t freak out and--
“WHAT THE HELL, TETSU?! WHY AREN’T YOU GOING PRO?!”
Tetsu didn’t look the least bit surprised by Jun’s outburst. If anything, he looked...amused by the whole situation which only annoyed Jun more.
He snarled and stepped right into Tetsu’s space. “WHAT? You don’t think you’re good enough or something? Cause you’re wrong!”
Tetsu laughed. The quiet sound was disarming even more so when paired with Tetsu’s next words.
“You’re going to be a great coach, Jun.”
Jun pulled back. He looked away and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “You too.”
Tetsu hummed. “I hope so.”
Jun sighed and lightly punched Tetsu’s arm. “You asshole. I can’t believe you’re not going to play professionally.”
“I want to give back to High School baseball.” Tetsu nodded at his own reasoning and then smiled. “And go to Koshien.”
“Not if we knock you out first.” Jun grinned back at him. “I can’t believe we’re both going to be coaching at West Tokyo schools.”
“It is fortuitous,” agreed Tetsu. “Have you found a place to live yet?”
“Ichika said I could live with her and Daiki till I found a place.” And instead of thinking through the consequences Jun blurted out the first thought that came to mind. “Are you going to live at home? Because if you’re not we could totally get a place together.”
It was the way Tetsu hesitated that forced Jun to reevaluate his offer and, shit, what was he thinking?? He couldn’t handle seeing Tetsu for maybe a half hour. How was he supposed to see him for hours every day?? Seriously what was he thinking??
It was a surprisingly easy question to answer.
Jun was thinking about how he missed seeing Tetsu every day. He missed how they would go to class and then practice. How they would practice their swings together just outside of the dorms. How sometimes Tetsu would stick around the dorms to hang out. How Tetsu would break out his shogi set because, for some reason, he thought that was a good way to make friends. (And it somehow worked?) How they would secretly take bets on how long Miyuki would stick around.
(Betting eventually became irrelevant. Miyuki was nothing if not consistent. When he was a First Year he would hang out for two hours. An hour once he established himself as the starting catcher. Fifteen minutes when he learned he could trick the new First Years into taking his place.)
Jun missed Tetsu, damn it. And if there was a chance of capturing a fraction of what their friendship had been like in High School then...then...Jun was going to take it.
Tetsu considered him for a moment. “I’d like that.” And before Jun could celebrate/be happy/freak out about that Tetsu added, “Though before we do...there’s something you should know.”
“Uh, okay.”
“I’m not great at deception,” said Tetsu so solemnly that Jun refrained from asking what the hell that had to do with anything.
Instead he said, “I know that.”
Tetsu nodded. “But when I thought you were asking me to fake date, I agreed.”
“Yeah…” said Jun slowly as he realized how strange that really was. “Why did you do that?”
“I thought I could pretend because it wasn’t really a lie.”
Jun went very very still. “You’re going to have to explain exactly what you mean by that.”
“I like you, Jun. I have for a while now, but I thought there wasn’t a point in confessing since you were moving back home and there was always a chance you’d find someone better--”
“Who the hell would be better than you?” And Jun was seriously pissed now. “Shit. Holy shit, Tetsu. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Tetsu furrowed his eyebrows ever so slightly. “I just explained why--”
Jun grabbed the lapels on Tetsu’s suit jacket and yanked him towards him. And Jun had never kissed someone before but he was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to be like this. The rough drag of lips moving against one another. The click of bumping teeth. There was nothing delicate or soft about it. Not when two immovable objects clashed into one another.
Except...they did move. Tetsu’s hand slipped under Jun’s jacket and settled on his hip and Jun’s hand wrapped around the back of Tetsu’s neck. They curled around one another. They moved closer. They moved together. And it rounded off all of their hard edges.
And Jun finally understood what all of those shoujo mangas were trying to convey with sparkles and flowers. Because what he felt wasn’t a sharp clang of the bat. It was a warmth that was blooming in his chest. It was stepping out onto a baseball field for the first time in the spring.
It was being exactly where he belonged.
Jun couldn’t help breaking out into a wide grin as he pulled away. “So, you should probably move in with me and be my boyfriend and all that shit.”
“Of course,” said Tetsu with a nod. “You know, this is usually the outcome of two people fake dating in shoujo manga.” Tetsu seemed to think about that statement for a moment. “I should have read shoujo manga a lot sooner.”
Jun barked out a laugh. “Might have saved us some time. I learned jackshit from Lone Wolf and Cub by the way.”
Tetsu frowned. “That can’t be right. The theme of honor through adversity alone--”
“Tetsu,” laughed Jun as he laced their fingers together. “I will let you tell me all about the important life lessons in Lone Wolf and Cub. Hell, I’ll even watch the series with you, but we really need to get to this reception. I’m supposed to make a speech and shit.”
Tetsu squeezed his hand. “What are you going to tell your family?”
Jun snorted. “Nothing they didn’t already know…”
---
Unfortunately Jun’s family wasn’t drunk enough not to notice that he walked into the restaurant holding Tetsu’s hand.
Ichika practically stopped the whole reception so that she could introduce herself/interrogate Tetsu. Akari used the distraction to put Jun into a headlock. Jun squawked and tried to break her hold on him. It was a hard fought battle that only ended when Akari and Ichika decided to switch places. Ichika used a different stall tactic. She threw her arms around Jun in a crushing hug while she cried and told him how happy she was. It was super effective.
And Jun was just starting to think about how much he loved his sisters--when he overheard Akari asked Tetsu if he wanted to see some baby photos of Jun.
“Oh hell no,” said Jun as he pushed Ichika off. Both of his sisters laughed. “Why do you even have those on your phone?”
“He’s going to see them eventually,” reasoned Akari. “Especially if he’s sticking around.”
Jun rolled his eyes. “It took you less than five minutes after meeting him before you tried to embarrass me. That’s unfair even for this family.”
Akari grinned back at him. “Does he have a brother?”
“Yes,” replied Jun. “He plays for the Hanshin Tigers’ minor league team.”
Akari blinked. “Wait. Really?” She then turned her attention to Tetsu. “Does he look like you?”
“Yes,” said Tetsu. “Except he’s taller and broader in the shoulders--”
“Wait. Really?!”
Jun snagged Tetsu by the arm and dragged him away as he called over his shoulder, “Is this a wedding reception or what? Isn’t there a schedule you need to stick to?”
“Your sisters are nice,” said Tetsu.
“Don’t let that fool you,” muttered Jun as he located their table and more or less collapsed into the chair. “You really don’t know what you’re getting into with my family.”
Tetsu reached out and awkwardly patted his knee. “It’ll be fine.”
Jun snagged an open wine bottle from the table and started pouring a generous amount in both his and Tetsu’s glasses. “You sound sure about that.”
“Of course,” replied Tetsu as he picked up his glass. “We’re together.”
Jun sputtered into his wine glass.
---
Jun held the microphone in one hand and a champagne glass in the other. He cleared his throat as the restaurant more or less quieted down and all eyes turned towards him. Jun glanced at Tetsu and Tetsu smiled back at him.
Jun took a breath.
“Ichika once told me...she was marrying her best friend…”
---
It was late and most of the reception had wound down. Some of the younger cousins were still going strong on the dance floor and Daiki was still spinning Ichika around. Their movements had lost all of the formality that their first dance together had. They were dancing like they were the last people left on earth. Dorkily. And with hearts in their eyes.
Tetsu had somehow nodded off. His head had dropped onto Jun’s shoulder and Jun was petrified to breathe too deeply and jostle him.
Jun’s phone lit up on the table and he slowly reached for it. He open the text message. It was from Chris because he continued to have suspiciously good timing.
How was the wedding?
Jun considered the question for a moment before he flipped the camera around and snapped a photo of him with Tetsu asleep on his shoulder. It was a horrible picture in the low lighting and Jun looked disgruntled but he sent it anyway. Chris would understand.
Happy?
Are you?
Yes. And then because Jun really was happier than he ever imagined he could be he added, Thanks.
Jun carefully slipped the phone into his jacket pocket. He sat like that--content with sitting on the side lines barely breathing--until the DJ announced it was the last song of the night. And part of Jun was sad that this night had to end. And part of him was excited to see what tomorrow would bring.
“Hey,” said Jun as he gently shook Tetsu. “It's the last dance.”
“Last dance...forever?” mumbled Tetsu as he rubbed his eyes.
Jun leaned over to kiss Tetsu’s cheek because he was just too cute. “Naw. Last dance of the night.”
Tetsu nodded as he stretched. He rose to his feet and held out his hand.
And Jun took it.