Chapter Text
“Ball four! This is the third walk in this inning alone!”
And there goes another one, Kousei lazily watches the bases fill up with his teammates, wondering for the nth time what happened to the monster pitcher. How did he go from eleven strikeouts to walking so many batters? Hell, how did Kousei himself manage a decent enough hit to actually bring home runners? He’s not a terrible batter, but he’s not exactly reliable at it either.
He’s just a little (a lot) disappointed in this pitcher’s duel, or lack of it.
“And this is where Seidou’s coaches finally make their move.”
When Kousei first heard they were going to play Seidou he couldn’t sleep with all the excitement. The chance to see those blazing pitches up close and see just how fearsome the monster ace of Seidou actually was gave him a thrill he hasn’t felt in baseball in a long time.
“We will now announce a player change for Seidou High.”
But the reality of Furuya Satoru is he’s like glass. When the light hits him just right, he shines bright, truly something to witness on the mound. But when he’s off his game, he’s cracked and dull, and Kousei can’t see the pitcher that captivated all of Japan during Senbatsu. If this is all Seidou’s ace really amounts to, then this game is as good as called. Kousei thinks he should be happy about that, but he just feels disappointed. This is why he left baseball in his first year, there were never any challenges. Maybe whoever wins the game after theirs will prove to be one for him at least.
“Furuya-kun is pulled. And replacing him is a pitcher, Sawamura-kun, who will bat eighth.”
Kousei stands up a little straighter, eyeing the new figure approaching the mound. He’s vaguely aware of his teammates giving him odd looks, but he can’t take his eyes off the suddenly loud boy that’s been subbed in. He isn't completely checked out of this game, plus he’s curious about the pitcher Seidou’s coach would dare throw into the game when there are bases loaded with Hoshida up to bat.
Sawamura huh… Kousei grips the railing in front of him tighter, leaning forward just a bit. When he can’t fully recall much about him other than being a southpaw, he briefly wishes he had paid better attention during the team meeting, but he can’t focus on that right now. Right now he’s watching this little upstart absolutely shut down Hoshida with his pitching, and wow, what is that form, how does it look from the batter’s box?
Kousei distantly hears that Hoshida strikes out, and Sasaki right after, but he’s more captivated by the pitcher who roars with each victory, who came in the worst case scenario and stopped their momentum cold. The pitcher who if he had been brought in an inning earlier Kousei can honestly say they wouldn’t have those five runs. All he can do is grab his cap and shake his head in disbelief as they switch sides, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to catch a glimpse of the boy’s face as he walks back to his own team’s dugout.
Kousei’s trying to calm himself as he reaches the mound when he hears him, loud and bright as he gets ready to bat. Kousei can’t help getting excited all over again at getting to face him so soon. He can see Takami gesturing for him to be calm, but he can’t help it! He’s about to face the pitcher that finally made this match interesting after that bland performance. Plus Kousei can’t wait to pay Sawamura back for that spectacle with his own pitching, the need for victory even stronger now that he’s found a worthy match.
And maybe Kousei wonders if the words wrapped around his left forearm could belong to Sawamura. It’s a brief, barely there thought, one Kousei doesn’t dwell on much right now during the game, but he can’t deny his curiosity. Kousei is finally brought out of his musings when Sawamura gets to the plate and immediately shows a bunting stance.
Well, okay then, Kousei’s honestly so confused he can barely even nod to Takami at his signs, already starting his windup. He has so many questions about this strategy until he sees Sawamura get out of the stance as soon as the ball leaves his fingers, and easily hits a double.
He can’t even hear the stands be more shocked than him as he can’t help thinking why wasn’t Sawamura the starter for this game? Actually forget starter, why isn’t that kid the ace of his team? Before Kousei can go deeper into that hole he hears Takami call for his attention again. Right, there’s still a game going on, whoops. Kousei shakes his head briefly and focuses on the next batter, another bunt. Kousei would laugh but he needs to focus or their lead will be gone, and interesting pitcher or not, he’s not losing this match.
They win the match.
Kousei’s proud of his team, they’ve all come far from their defeat in the fall, and if this was any other match he would be just as happy as the others. But he has this feeling, an itch under his skin, that if he doesn’t hurry and find Sawamura he’s going to miss his chance. So he rushes Sasaki who’s helping him ice his shoulder, packs his stuff fast, and books it out of the dugout. A few of his teammates follow him, clearly concerned for his weird behavior, but he doesn’t have time to explain. Kousei needs to find Sawamura, he has to.
He makes it to the main hallway at the same time as Sawamura, who looks a little startled at his appearance. He doesn’t say anything, but gives him a small curt bow before he turns to leave, and Kousei doesn’t even think, he just blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, anything to keep Sawamura in front of him.
“Hey, wait up! I’m so glad I ran into you here. There’s something I wanna ask. What was that pitch? A slider? A cutter? Our guy who got to see it from the box said that it was like the ball suddenly vanished. I wanted to see it from up close from the batter’s box, too, but you didn’t throw it to me. How do you throw it? What’s the grip for it?”
Okay, maybe he should have thought things out a bit more, but Sawamura’s eyes are a golden brown that are way more captivating up close than eighteen meters away at home plate. Also he’s cute, like, really cute, and Kousei’s always been weak to a cute face.
And that pitch has been on his mind since he saw it, but he vaguely recognizes that probably shouldn’t have been the first thing he said to the guy. Especially when his face seems to be flickering through a lot of emotions before settling on anger, but also how is Sawamura still so cute even when mad, Kousei wants to scream a bit.
“Excuse me, but! We have lost the game. There is nothing else for me to say.”
Kousei’s mind goes blank as he hears his soulmark words come from Sawamura. He honestly kind of wants to cry, he thought for a millisecond Sawamura could be his soulmate, but actual confirmation is making him too emotional. Though when he focuses on Sawamura again, he looks upset and Kousei just panics.
“Why not? This and that are two different things, we’re just discussing baseball right now, no!?” Kousei should really get to his actual point but his curiosity is winning out too much, the words just flowing out.
“Eh!?”
“As in a hearty pitcher-to-pitcher chat, no? So come on, teach me the grip,” Kousei’s going to look back on this and bash his head over his stupidity, but that’s a thought for future Kousei. Present Kousei apparently wants to piss off his very cute soulmate because his inner pitcher can’t shut up for two seconds.
“No friggin’ way!”
Sawamura looks a bit puffed up, almost like an angry cat. It's absolutely adorable to Kousei but before everything gets away from him, he finally manages to bring the conversation where he wanted it originally. “Why not!? And anyway, we might be sou-”
Sawamura gives Kousei the fiercest glare yet, shutting him up instantly. Before his thoughts can spiral over that reaction, Sawamura is speaking again.
“If I give you my line will you drop this for now? I really don’t want to talk right now.”
Kousei just nods and brings out his phone as Sawamura rattles off his line address to him. As soon as he has it saved he looks up to see Sawamura looking slightly nervous as he accepts the request on his own phone.
“Sawamura-”
“I’ll text you. When things are less crazy and everything, okay?”
“Yeah, works for me,” Kousei can only grin brightly at Sawamura who manages a small smile before he turns away to catch up with his own team.
Kousei can feel the questioning stares of the few teammates that are behind him, but he can’t bring himself to care, not when he found his soulmate and got Sawamura’s attention. It’s a chance and he’ll take it.
A faint ping gets Kousei’s attention as he’s doing homework, which he immediately ignores when he sees Sawamura is the one texting him. It’s been a little over a week since the spring semifinals and Kousei was only panicking a little. He’s been fidgety during practice and he knows he bombed his history quiz because he wasn’t able to concentrate at all that day. But he knows if he reached out first, he’ll probably scare Sawamura away, and he doesn’t want to screw this up before it even starts.
He has thought briefly that even though Sawamura said his words, maybe Kousei hadn’t said his own and now he’s just trying to figure out how to let him down gently. But Kousei was watching Sawamura very closely (again, super cute, sue him), he’s almost one hundred percent sure he saw recognition in his eyes. Kousei’s also considered that maybe he wants to be this sure because he was captivated by Sawamura’s pitching, but he’s seen other great pitchers, hell they played against Narumiya Mei in the finals, and he’s never felt this enamored on that alone.
Because he is, he is utterly enchanted by everything he’s seen so far of Sawamura Eijun.
So maybe he’s really hoping to be right, but he’s never wanted to be right about something as badly as wants to be right about this. And if he’s wrong, well… he doesn’t want to even consider it at the moment, so he looks at Sawamura’s message.
Sawamura: Are you free this sunday?
Kousei’s brow raises a bit at the simple but blunt message before replying.
Me: I have morning practice, but I’m free the rest of the afternoon, why?
Sawamura: We have the day off so I figured I would ask so we could maybe meet up.
Sawamura: And talk.
Me: Got a place in mind?
Sawamura: There’s a cafe a few blocks from Seidou, I can send you the address. What time works for you?
Me: Hmm. Practice ends around 11, but then we have a team meeting and I’d have to clean up. How about 1?
Sawamura: That works for me. I’ll see you there.
Kousei hums as the address for the cafe comes through next, and he can’t stop the smile forming on his face. Forget homework, his concentration is shot, the only thing running through his mind being able to see Sawamura again so soon. He scrolls back up to reread the conversation, his smiling widening as he does. When he gets to the end again, he lets out a little laugh, putting his phone down on his desk. Kousei gets up and almost skips to his closet to see what he can wear on sunday. He might as well do something productive if he isn’t going to finish his homework tonight.
Sunday starts with an average practice, but many silent questioning stares from his teammates since Kousei is incapable of being still for any of it. He’s glad they and the coach don’t ask though, he’s not quite sure how he would answer them. Kousei could just lie or say it’s none of their business, but he’s finally on a good page with the team and he would rather not cause tension. But he also doesn’t know how to fully explain his nerves and excitement over getting to finally sit down with his maybe soulmate, so he’s ultimately glad no one asks. Maybe after he confirms everything with Sawamura, he’ll tell them what’s going on, but he’s also glad to just have this to himself for a bit.
As soon as Kousei is free from the meeting after practice, something about their practice games schedule, he bolts to the showers. It’s one of the few times he’s thankful he shaves his head now, even if he does sometimes miss having hair to style. Once he’s done and changed into his clothes, he checks the time to see he has plenty of time to make it to the cafe.
He debates stopping to get some flowers on the way there, but decides against it. Kousei’s done the dating thing before and while part of him screams to try being romantic for what could be a date (he wishes), a stronger part remembers how nervous Sawamura was when they exchanged line addresses. So maybe he wants to get his possible soulmate some flowers, but he wants Sawamura to be comfortable, especially if they really are soulmates. As cliché as it sounds to even himself, Kousei wants to do this right.
That doesn’t mean he isn’t going to offer to pay for lunch though. He may not be doing grand gestures yet, but romance isn’t completely off the table.
Kousei finds the cafe easily despite it being fairly tucked away from the main road. It's a cute little worn brick building that seems to invite those that want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. When he steps inside, he sees how cozy the cafe really is with warm lighting and big soft looking chairs and couches surrounding tables in a haphazard way. There are books everywhere, on shelves, tables, even a few empty chairs.
It looks like an escape, and Kousei wonders briefly what Sawamura is escaping when he comes here after he spots him curled up in an armchair towards the back, mug in hand as he looks out the window. He has a small frown on his face, but doesn't seem upset so Kousei goes to get a drink himself. With his own mug in hand, he takes a deep breath and approaches Sawamura.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Sawamura jerks his head up and blinks his big, brown eyes up at Kousei and he fights the urge to coo at the image. Seriously, how is he so cute, Kousei may not survive at this rate.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Have you been waiting long?"
"No! Just for a few minutes."
"That's good," Kousei says as he sits in the chair opposite Sawamura, and wow is it soft, he could sit here all day.
"Was it hard finding the place?"
"Nah, I'm pretty good at following directions when I pay attention."
"Do you usually not?" Sawamura lets out a small chuckle.
"I'm usually in no rush to be places, but today was kind of an exception."
"I see."
The two stare at each other when Sawamura finishes, both seemingly wanting to address the elephant in the room, but with no clear way how. Kousei sees Sawamura start to fidget with his mug and decides to be brave.
"I’m pretty sure you're my soulmate!"
Okay, maybe not that brave, Kousei really needs to start thinking things through more. Oh well, might as well keep going at this rate, he already brought up the elephant.
"I mean, I'm like 95% sure that you are, but there's only so much I can confirm on my own you know so, here I am."
Sawamura is staring wide eyed at Kousei, and he's starting to get a little concerned at the silence considering how loud he knows the other boy can be. He takes a sip of his drink, it looks like tea to Kousei which he didn't expect, and a deep breath before he finally speaks.
"Well I'm about 95% sure you're my soulmate too, so I guess we're at least on the same page." Sawamura gives one of his small smiles, and even though Kousei has come to enjoy the grins he saw during the game, he feels very warm at these ones, like they're something special just for him. But maybe he's just reading too much into it for now, though that doesn't stop him from blurting out how cute it makes Sawamura look.
“You can’t just say stuff like that,” Sawamura exclaims, looking incredibly flustered, red to his ears.
“Why not, it’s the truth," Kousei can't help but grin at this response, the dark blush complimenting Sawamura's eyes perfectly.
“You-! A-anyway, um, is your mark anywhere easy to see? So I can check?” Sawamura’s blush somehow gets even redder as he stutters through his questions, and Kousei has to stop himself from trying to see how red he can make him.
“It’s on my left forearm, so easy enough to show you. Where’s yours?”
“It’s here, on my right one,” he says as he taps on his own forearm through his sweater. Kousei briefly thinks it’s kind of romantic that their marks are on each other’s pitching arms, as if to mirror each other.
“Should I go first then,” Kousei asks but he’s already sliding his jacket sleeve up to show his words to Sawamura, who leans forward a bit to see them more clearly.
Excuse me, but! We have lost the game. There is nothing else for me to say.
Sawamura’s brow furrows a bit, but he confirms it’s his handwriting while he brings his own arm forward and yanks his own sleeve up. Kousei leans forward to see it better.
Hey, wait up! I’m so glad I ran into you here. There’s something I wanna ask. What was that pitch? A slider? A cutter? Our guy who got to see it from the box said that it was like the ball suddenly vanished. I wanted to see it from up close from the batter’s box, too, but you didn’t throw it to me. How do you throw it? What’s the grip for it?
Kousei’s pretty sure he stopped breathing for a second, until he finds his voice to confirm it for Sawamura. “Yeah, that, that’s my handwriting. Sorry for such a long mark.”
“It’s fine. People just assumed my soulmate would be as much of a chatterbox as me, which I guess they weren’t wrong. But we should talk. About that. About being, you know. Soulmates.” Sawamura turns his head back to the window but glances at Kousei as if to gauge his reaction.
“Way to sound enthusiastic," Kousei can't help snarking back, Sawamura is back to fidgeting and it's driving him a little mad.
“No! No, it’s just-”
“It’s fine Sawamura." And it is, really. Kousei knows the reputation he has in the baseball circuit and they didn't exactly meet in the best of circumstances.
“No, I didn’t expect this, finding my soulmate, until like, later. Not...not now." Sawamura turns back to Kousei leaning forward a bit in his seat, though he's mainly eyeing his mug in his hands.
“...you never thought it could happen, considering what your mark says?” Kousei doesn't mean for that to come out as fragile as it does, but he’s suddenly scared that Sawamura may not want anything to do with soulmates.
“Sometimes. For the longest time I didn’t even know what pitch it was referring to so it never really crossed my mind. Then with all the time I spent trying to improve my pitching, when I did figure out what pitch it was, I was trying desperately to master it for games. And then I was just focused on making sure our team didn’t lose our games, so not much time for thinking of anything else.”
“And after our game?”
“...the game was kind of a mess and I was trying to work through some stuff. And then we lost and I didn’t really want to talk to anyone, let alone the pitcher from the team that beat us.” Sawamura looks up at Kousei then, with a sort of pleading look, as if to will him to understand the feelings of frustration when you lose a game.
The Yakushi game in the fall flash in Kousei's mind and, yeah, he can understand too easily how it feels after a loss. Kousei feels a bit bad now that he went after Sawamura as hard as he did but he's not going to apologize for wanting to meet such an interesting pitcher. And he’d argue it had the best results possible so he’s really not sorry.
“I’m not going to apologize for winning.”
“I’m not asking you to! I just, it was a hard loss, it wasn’t against you personally or anything.”
“Well that’s good, I was really hoping you wouldn’t be mad at me for that. I kind of like winning, plan to do it again in the summer, so it’d be kind of awkward." Kousei gives a lazy grin, trying to bring it back to less tension filled territory. Maybe one day they can discuss those games and losses, but not for their first meetup.
“I think this is gonna be awkward no matter how we do this.”
“We?” Kousei tries really hard not to let too much hope slip through his voice, but he definitely fails if Sawamura's adorable small smile is any indication.
“Well yeah, we are soulmates! I do wanna get to know you-”
“Really!?” Screw hiding his hope, Kousei could happily dance across the cafe at this point.
“Of course I do! It’s been my dream to find my soulmate!” Sawamura stares him straight in the eye, and Kousei feels captivated for the first time all over again.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, I just, you’re a rival pitcher, and I really want to take my team to koshien, but I know you do too! And it just feels weird, but I wanna try anyway because I’ve dreamed about the day I would meet my soulmate since I knew what they were! I just hoped it would be more romantic than in a sweaty hallway.” Sawamura looks away briefly while rubbing the back of his neck before bringing his attention back to Kousei.
“I’d say sorry, but I had to meet you as soon as possible! Especially after your pitching, and by the way, wow, your pitching, but I had to meet you. And I just… I had this feeling after the game that if I didn’t talk to you then, I wouldn’t get my chance again for a long time. Maybe it was the mark trying to get me to you, or something like that, but I had to make sure you wouldn’t slip away.” Kousei usually has no filter when he speaks, he's very aware of himself, but something about those big brown eyes makes him want to spill every thought he’s ever had.
“Oh. Um, that’s actually pretty romantic.” Sawamura's blush is starting to creep down his neck, Kousei can't help but track it before grinning back at Sawamura. It seems romantic gestures would be very welcome then, good to know.
“I know right?”
“Ugh, don't ruin it," Sawamura groans but there's a smile playing on his lips and it somehow feels like a sweeter victory than the semifinal game they played almost two weeks ago.
"So how do you want to do this? We can go at whatever pace you're comfortable with."
"...have you ever dated anyone?"
"I had a girlfriend for some months before, she was nice, but we both knew it was mainly for fun, nothing lasting."
"I see."
"Does that bother you?"
"No! It's just, I've never dated. Anyone, ever. So I'm just nervous how to go about...any of this." Sawamura is back to fidgeting with his mug, taking a sip of his tea as if to relax himself. Kousei smiles gently at the sight.
"Then how about we try being friends first? Just get to know each other with no pressure. Like I said, we can go at whatever pace you are comfortable with."
Sawamura stops moving and looks at Kousei with wonder and a little relief. "Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't have made the offer if I wasn't sure. Though just warning you I'm probably still going to flirt with you, you're absolutely adorable and it would be a crime not to tell you," Kousei can't help being cheeky, and the bright red blush that returns with a vengence is worth all the sputtering he gets as a reply.
They're strolling down the sidewalk back to Seido, something Kousei insisted on after Sawamura refused to let him pay for his snacks. He's going to woo his soulmate, even if it has to be in the small subtle gestures for now.
They hit a lapse of quiet as they reach the gates of the school, Kousei reluctant to say goodbye just yet, and Sawamura seeming to feel the same, at least he hopes. Kousei is ready to break the silence himself when Sawamura beats him to it.
"Thank you, for being understanding about everything! And I had a good time too, it was nice, spending time with you." And there's that damn smile, Kousei's heart can't take much more, he might actually die from overexposure to cuteness. Not the worst way to go at least.
"I had a good time too. I hope we can do it again sometime soon? When we're both not busy with baseball of course, we both still have to keep up training."
"I'll let you know when my next free day is," Sawamura smiles a little wider as he says it and Kousei just feels giddy.
And very brave so he quickly takes Sawamura's hand, his left hand, and places a gentle kiss on it, before looking back up at Sawamura's stunned red face with his own small smile.
"I look forward to it."
By the time Kousei hears Sawamura recovered enough to yell over what just happened, he's already skipping a block away.