Archive of Our Own ^beta

Most days, Youichi feels like he’s living in the world’s worst shoujo manga. It’s exhausting, really, to have to bear witness to the pink haze and cherry blossoms that seem to float around him whenever Sawamura and Miyuki are in the same room. He thought it was bad before, watching them dance around each other with constipated faces but ever since they won their ticket to Koshien it’s been infinitely worse.

Sawamura and Miyuki are without a doubt the main characters in this story. They’re the winning battery, the Sakuhin Battery. He’s seen them be described as an explosive nightmare in newspaper articles due to the way they sparked suddenly like a flash fire and tore down everything in their path on the way to victory. That wasn’t the only thing that sparked though.

If Sawamura’s the sweet and energetic but oblivious kid that comes along from the countryside to shake up everyone’s lives then Miyuki is the (annoyingly) handsome, talented, and elusive love interest. This wouldn’t normally bother Youichi as high school romance doesn’t cross into the world of baseball. Usually. But now he gets a front-row seat because if Sawamura is the protagonist and Miyuki is the deuteragonist, then Youichi is both the best friend (gag) and the older brother (double gag) side character.

It really ticks Youichi off because the idiot duo isn’t the only partnership at Seido, and not that they haven’t worked hard to get their battery to where it is now but Youichi and his second baseman have worked hard too— and with less time.

If anything, he thinks Haruichi would be the better choice for a shoujo protagonist. He’s pretty and soft in a way that Sawamura’s loud ass isn’t without sacrificing strength. He can be stupidly stubborn but he isn’t stupid and he wouldn’t put up with the bullshit he sees that some of the main characters in Sawamura’s mangas have to deal with from their love interests. Then again, maybe he wouldn’t make a great main character because his bluntness would make him more likely to confront his love interest with a sweet blush on his face that matches the delicate pink tones of his hair. The story wouldn’t drag on and on due to some misunderstanding or poor communication skills. 

No, he guesses the entertainment factor is bumped up a few notches when watching Sawamura and Miyuki fumble around each other like two newborn deer. At least he’s getting more blackmail material out of it.

“You-san!”

Speaking of, he doesn’t have time to be concerned with two imbeciles when he’s got his own partnership to worry about.

With one call of his name, Youichi knows exactly what to do. He picks his head up, eyes briefly meeting Haruichi’s as if to say give me a quick hard toss right to my glove as he steps on second, glove positioned at the ready. Haruichi with lightning-fast reflexes grabs the ball that’s been grounded out towards second base and in one smooth motion tosses it right to Youichi. He barely takes a second to let a smirk take over his face at the accuracy of the toss before he’s sending his own throw over to Zono for a double play. 

Some first-years let out a cheer from where they’re watching on the sidelines. Once upon a time, Youichi would have felt the same relief over getting that type of play but now it’s like second nature, now it’s expected of them, as it should be as the team’s keystone duo. All it had taken was one failed double play for them to both hunker down and work until they got it right, until their teamwork was so solid and ingrained into their very beings that even if one of them slipped up or was off by a hair, the other would immediately be able to compensate for it. Now all they have to do is share a glance, sometimes even less, to pull off near-impossible plays. They work together now as easy as the push and pull of the tides to make plays that are reminiscent of how two ballet dancers would execute a stunning duet. Graceful yet cutthroat.

He’d been nervous at first, that he was being too harsh towards Haruichi and that he wasn’t being a good senpai to him. However, Haruichi had responded to him almost immediately, pushing forward with a drive and determination that threatened to leave Youichi in the dust if he wasted any more time worrying. That was the first and only time that Youichi forgot that above all else, Haruichi was still a Kominato.

“Harucchi! Kuramochi-senpai!” Sawamura yells out in approval, in thanks, from the mound. Behind him, Miyuki gets up from his crouch and starts jogging towards the mound to talk about who knows what. They’re only doing some light situational gameplay— so it’s less about how the pitchers are doing and more about how the fielders are performing, how the batters are hitting in a game-like atmosphere, and how the runners are doing. So again, there is no real reason for Miyuki to be approaching Sawamura. At least one that is related to baseball.

He can feel Haruichi’s presence beside him as he watches Miyuki come to stand way too close to Sawamura. He places a hand on Sawamura’s shoulder that sneakily slides around the back of his neck until it looks more like he’s hugging the pitcher. Youichi wouldn’t think much of the gesture except that Miyuki’s sly sneer towards the blonde first-year catcher lets him know there’s nothing sweet about it. He can remember Miyuki complaining just the other day about how his new roommate tends to stand just a tad bit too close to pitchers on the mound and realizes that this all just a show of possession, a warning towards the other. Youichi can feel anger start to flare in his stomach and has to resist the urge to kick the captain’s ass to space and back.

“This is so sad,” Haruichi comments, the graveness of his voice stealing Youichi’s attention.

“Why?” he asks, eyebrow furrowed and a bit concerned. Did he miss something?

“It’s just that they’ve become that annoying high school couple without actually being a couple.” The corner of his mouth tilts up and he side-eyes Youichi, the shine in them giving away his amusement.

“Kyahaha! Got that right,” Youichi laughs, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s disgusting to have to watch.”

“What if we just locked them in the equipment room for a few hours?” Haruichi wonders. “They couldn’t possibly avoid each other like that, could they?”

“Hmm, you underestimate how stupid they are.”

“Even Miyuki-senpai?” Haruichi asks in disbelief, raising an eyebrow.

“Especially that bastard,” he scoffs. “Miyuki’s convinced that Sawamura’s too good for him, which is correct but Sawamura thinks otherwise.”

He looks back towards the mound just in time to see the hand that’s been resting on Sawamura’s shoulder slide down, caressing the back of his forearm and down to his left wrist where it stalls, fingers lightly playing with the pitcher's own in gentle touches. Miyuki's mouth moves, saying something too low for Youichi to hear, a nasty smirk adorning his face. Sawamura laughs at whatever he says but it’s not his loud boisterous laugh, no, this one is more like a giggle— something soft that makes it apparent that they’re both lost in their own world.

“Ugh, pour some bleach directly into my eyes please,” Youichi groans.

Haruichi laughs at his antics, eyes crinkling closed in delight and as much as Youichi loves looking into his warm rose-colored eyes, this is fine too. Youichi can’t help but smile at him.

“Miyuki!” a loud shout calls across the field, startling Youichi. He whips his head towards Coach Kataoka who looks less than thrilled by the pause in practice due to the battery chit-chatting on the mound. 

“Yes, sir?” Miyuki calls back.

“Is there something wrong with Sawamura’s hand?” he asks, nodding his head towards where Miyuki’s fingers are still locked with Sawamura’s. “Or do we need to get him checked out?”

Miyuki quickly drops Sawamura’s hand and takes a step back, a blush rising high on his cheeks. He can’t see Sawamura’s face with his back turned to Youichi but he’s willing to bet he’s sporting a similar look.

“No, sir! He’s completely fine.”

“Good,” he barks out and then turns to address everyone on the field, “Let’s get back to practice!”

Haruichi laughs as he jogs back to his position, the sound ringing sweetly in Youichi’s ears as his teammates throw jabs at their captain.

“Come on, Captain! Stay focused!”

“Miyuki, check my hand too!”

“No flirting on the mound!”

✿✿✿

It doesn’t get any better the next day when during lunch Miyuki quickly takes the empty seat behind him. Youichi sighs but turns around to straddle his chair and see what’s got Miyuki looking so excited.

“Look at this,” Miyuki says, pointing at a newspaper he’s brought and opened on the desk in front of him. He starts reading, picking up somewhere in the middle of the article, “Ace and second-year Sawamura Eijun came onto the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning where his energetic and precise pitching exemplified Seido’s well-rounded pitching staff. He led the team’s defense, alongside Captain Miyuki, with pitching that remained calm while also baffling Inashiro’s lineup. He more than proved to have the presence of a true ace, something that Seido seems to have been missing in the last few years. With their win against Inashiro in the Tokyo Qualifiers, this just might be the start of Seido’s Golden Age.”  

Miyuki lifts his head, eyes wide and sparkling. “Can you believe this?” he continues. “I knew Sawamura was amazing but now he’s all over the news. It’s a shame that they’ll never see him as I do though, all the hard work he’s put in or how cute he looks when he gets a new pitch right for the first time.” His face falls a bit when he finally takes in Youichi’s bored expression. “But, you know, that article didn’t mention you at all, so...“

“Shut the fuck up!” Youichi spits out, reaching across the desk to punch Miyuki in the arm. “Why the hell are you gushing about Sawamura to me , anyway?” He can’t wait to tell Haruichi later about how the soap opera that is Miyuki and Sawamura is still going strong. He kinda wishes the shorter boy were here now so he could look over at him with a can you believe this bullshit look on his face. No one’s had to suffer as much as Youichi has when it comes to Miyuki and Sawamura, but Haruichi is a close second who can at least share some of the pain. That first catcher might too, now that he thinks about it.

“Who else am I supposed to gush to?” he asks, offended and rubbing at the arm Youichi had just assaulted. “Sawamura? No thanks.”

Youichi grits his teeth. “I’m gonna punch you.”

“You already did. Besides we always talk about Sawamura.”

Youichi rolls his eyes. “Yeah, to make fun of him, not talk about how he’s just so cute and perfect and how his long legs are to die for .”

Miyuki raises a brow at that. “You got something you wanna admit?”

“I swear, as soon as we retire I’m kicking your ass enough to make up for the last two and half years.” It’s more a promise than a threat but Miyuki won’t take it seriously. Youichi could just shrug because that means when the time comes he’ll have the element of surprise on his side.

“It’s okay, I understand,” Miyuki says in a sickly sweet tone, grinning stretching across his ugly face. Youichi already knows that the next thing coming out of his mouth will be some elaborate way to tease him so that they will deflect the conversation to a topic that isn’t about how in love he is with his battery partner. “It’s not that you also like Sawamura, it’s that you’re jealous because I like him and not you. Wow, Mochi-kun, I didn’t know your feelings for me exceeded that of friendship.”

He knew it was coming, but that doesn’t mean he’s mature enough to not rise to the bait. Youichi quickly stands up and reaches across the desk, not to punch him this time, but to grab the collar of his shirt and lift him out of his seat. Their classmates around them ignore the scene, too used to this happening at least once a week since they were first-years. “Quit trying to change the subject! Stop being a wimp and just tell Sawamura how you feel!”

Miyuki lets out a long-suffering sigh, making sure to blow it directly into Youichi’s face. He lets go of the bastard then and drops back into his seat.

“Not yet,” Miyuki says softly, staring wistfully down at the newspaper.

The big picture that goes along with the article is one that was taken right after Sawamura had thrown the last strike to seal their victory. The team had sprinted over to the mound, enveloping their ace as he cried out in triumph. Miyuki had gotten to him first, wrapping his arms around Sawamura’s waist and lifting him into a tight hug— the both of them front and center. 

Featured in the background, only a little off to the side but still crystal clear is Youichi himself. He’s got one arm around Zono’s waist but the other is around Haruichi’s shoulders. Haruichi’s head is thrown back in pure joy, Youichi remembers how loud he had been screaming and how the tears had run down his face like his body had no other way to let out the overabundance of emotions they’d all been feeling. Worst of all is Youichi’s face, tilted to the side and down at Haruichi showing what he normally wouldn’t hesitate to call a disgusting face if it were coming from anyone else. But it comes from Youichi himself and it just looks so overly fond, so sickeningly sweet. 

He wonders if Haruichi’s seen this particular picture yet. 

✿✿✿

A few days later finds him in his room sitting crossed-legged in front of the TV with a controller in his hands as he gets his ass beat in Mario Kart. His hair falls across his forehead, still a bit damp from the bath he’d taken earlier, and the towel around his neck swings from side to side as his body moves in tandem with his character on the screen. With every passing second, he falls more behind and starts resorting to good old-fashioned button smashing rather than skill.

“What the hell? Why are you so good at this?” he grunts out, sparring a look at Haruichi next to him.

The second-year smirks from where he’s lying down next to him, head propped up on the pillow he’d stolen from Youichi’s bed and looking a little bored. What a brat. 

He must have gotten a bath earlier too with the way his pink locks seem fluffier than normal as they fan out across his pillow. It’s as if a quick wash has brought them back to life after being flattened by helmet or hat most of the day. Youichi tries not to think too hard about how he’ll probably be smelling the other boy’s shampoo as he tries to fall asleep tonight.

“I’m just that amazing,” Haruichi quips cheekily.

Youichi snorts. “Yeah, right. We’re playing Street Fighter after this. I’ll put you in your place for once.”

“Oh,” Haruichi lets out airily like he knows something Youichi doesn’t. “I guess I can start getting serious then.”

Youichi makes a choking sound because if this isn’t already Haruichi playing when he’s ‘serious’ then he might actually be screwed.

He can hear the sounds of Sawamura shuffling around the room behind them. When Haruichi had first come over, Sawamura had played a few rounds and then resorted to just cheering them on when Haruichi had started beating him too easily and too quickly. Asada had been around for a bit too once he’d gotten back from dinner and when he’d left to go take his bath, Sawamura had climbed onto his bed to start reading.

Youichi throws a quick look over his shoulder to see Sawamura slipping his feet into a pair of sandals. He’s doing it too quietly, almost like he was trying to sneak out. Not to run, if his choice of footwear is anything to go by, but then where else would he be…

“Sawamura!” Youichi shouts, eyes still on the TV, hoping to startle his roommate.

“Yes!” Sawamura screeches.

Youichi watches the screen just long enough to see Haruichi win first place before he turns to face Sawamura, placing the controller down and folding his arms across his chest. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Nowhere! Umm… just out to get a drink!” he lies, hands hidden behind his back and rocking back on his heels.

He goes along with the lie, knowing that Sawamura will eventually mess up somewhere and out himself. “And you didn’t think to ask your senpai if he wanted something?”

“What do you need a drink for?” he snaps, indignant. “Is losing to Harucchi fifty times in a row that tiring? If anything Harucchi would need one!”

“You punk—” Youichi starts to say, getting ready to jump up and teach Sawamura one of his favorite lessons about chokeholds. He’s stopped when he feels a warm hand on his knee.

“It’s not tiring,” Haruichi says with a shrug, lightly pinching his knee before taking his hand away. He blows a piece of hair that’s fallen into his eyes out of the way, and then looks directly up at Youichi when he mirthfully says, “It’s not like I have to work that hard to beat him.” 

“You’re a punk too!” Youichi growls, diving down on top of and straddling Haruichi who still lays defenseless on the ground. He presses the knuckles of his fists into Haruichi’s soft hair and grinds them in, a noogie being the best thing he can do against the younger when he wouldn’t dare use one of his wrestling moves on him.

Haruichi lets out a yelp and tries to pry Youichi’s hands off him but all Youichi has to do is grab one of his wrists and pin it next to his head on the pillow before he continues his attack. Haruichi’s strong, but when it comes to physical strength he’s no match for Youichi.

“You-san! Stop!” Haruichi shouts, but he’s giggling at the same time, trying to use his one free hand to push Youichi away.

“No way! You’ve gotten too cheeky,” Youichi laughs, switching from pushing his fist into his head to just messing up his hair.

“AHH! Harucchi! I’ll save you!” Sawamura yells, kicking his shoes back off and jumping to sprawl across Youichi’s back to try and haul him off.

Youichi lets out an oof! when all 175cm of Sawamura lands on him and because he wasn’t prepared to have to brace himself, he half falls on top of Haruichi. He still holds one of Haruichi’s wrists while he leans on his other arm in a plank, keeping his upper body from crushing Haruichi. Three pairs of legs are tangled together and Youichi can now officially say he knows what it’s like to be in the middle of a cute second-years sandwich. Not that he can do anything with that information that won’t result in a slap to the face.

He’s close now to Haruichi, closer than they’ve ever been before, including the hug they’d shared after beating Inashiro because like this there is no height difference. Like this, his face is perfectly aligned with Haruichi’s and their noses are close enough to touch. He can see how Haruichi’s eyes open wide in shock and that there are actually flecks of brown among the pink of his irises. They’re framed by thick dark lashes and flushed cheeks, if he didn’t know any better he’d think the boy was wearing makeup. The small gasp he lets out has Youichi’s eyes darting down to his mouth, to his equally pink and plush lips and wow , Youichi’s never been this close to kissing someone. He really wants to kiss Haruichi. He’ll be damned if he tried something like that when Sawamura’s still tugging on his back.

He opens his mouth to either curse Sawamura out or to apologize to Haruichi but before he can make a choice there are three quick knocks on the door and then it swings open.

“Hey, Kuramochi, have you seen…?” 

Dammit . He doesn’t need to look up to know whose voice that belongs to.

“Wow, Kuramochi. I didn’t know you were into this,” Miyuki insinuates, gesturing towards the three of them piled on the floor together. The amused shit-eating grin on his face has Youichi thankful that the other has an outdated phone because if Youichi were in his position, he’d have taken at least a hundred pictures by now. Or maybe he would have decked him for lying on top of Haruichi like this.

In the next second, Sawamura’s scrambling to get up off them, inadvertently pushing Youichi even more into Haruichi.

“C-Cap! What are you doing here in my humble abode?!” Sawamura babbles out.

“Did he just stutter on a one-syllable word?” Haruichi whispers between them.

Youichi barks out a laugh, hiding his face in the crook Haruichi’s neck as the tension in the room dissipates. Haruichi’s body shakes from his own laughter underneath him and Youichi finally takes a second to roll off his partner and lie next to him on the floor.

“You okay?” he asks him, a bit winded. “I’m sorry about that, Haruichi.”

Haruichi turns and gives him a small smile. “I’m fine. Eijun-kun is just Eijun-kun. Please don’t kill him later.”

“No promises.” 

He sits up, offering a hand to Haruichi and pulling him up when he takes it. His playfulness from earlier must have been rougher than he thought because Haruichi’s hair is a mess with strands sticking out every which way. The second baseman is normally so well put together that he just looks ridiculous and it makes Youichi dissolve into another fit of laughter.

“Your hair looks dumb,” Youichi chuckles. He’s aware he sounds like a five-year-old trying to tease his crush, but this whole night has him feeling like he’s been floating up in the clouds.

“Yeah, I wonder why?” Haruichi huffs sarcastically, bringing his hands up to try and comb through his hair. His fingers get caught on a few knots and he, in a rare show of immaturity, pouts.

It’s nearly the cutest thing Youichi’s ever seen and he has to resist the urge to grab the front of his shirt when his heart clenches. 

He nudges the other with his elbow a few times. “Aww, c’mon. You know I’m just teasing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Haruichi sighs out, trying to hide the smile that threatens to curl his lips up but Youichi sees it, and counts it as a win.

“MIYUKI KAZUYA!!”

They both flinch and turn at Sawamura’s unholy screeching followed by Miyuki’s irritating cackle, the battery having climbed up on Sawamura’s top bunk to do— are they cuddling? — whatever the hell they’re doing while Youichi wasn’t paying attention. To be honest, he had forgotten the two of them were even there, which is almost unheard of with how loud Sawamura is and damn near impossible with how much louder he gets when Miyuki is also around.

Haruichi must read the annoyance on his face because he clears his throat to get his attention back. “Do you wanna maybe… go somewhere else? While they’re here?” The blush is back on his face and he scratches at his cheek nervously. It’s the shyest he’s been around Youichi in a while and it’s making his stomach flip.

The image of their faces so close together, their lips so close together, flashes in his mind. He doesn’t think he could handle being alone with Haruichi right then. He knows he likes Haruichi and came to terms with his feelings fairly quickly, he didn’t need to pick Haruichi up and dramatically swing him around in a hug in front of thirty thousand plus fans while adrenaline runs through his veins for him to realize it.

He also has an inkling that the feeling is mutual but he’s not ready to face that head-on just quite yet. Haruichi is terrifying and it’s terrifying, in general, to think about all this, especially in the midst of the team trying to win nationals.

It’s something he has put a lot of thought into beforehand, decided he would wait until he retired, until their partnership isn’t hanging in the balance, and then he would address it. Until then, any and all feelings have been pushed to the side. He’s aware that this also makes him a hypocrite, considering Miyuki’s no doubt doing the same thing with Sawamura, yet he yelled at Miyuki to just confess already.

In his defense, he and Haruichi aren’t nearly as nauseating as the other two.

“Not today. I refuse to leave them,” he jabs a finger behind him, “alone. Besides I still have to kick your ass at Street Fighter.” He picks up Haruichi’s controller and offers it to him.

Haruichi looks disappointed for only a moment before he takes the controller and settles back against his pillow. “You can try,” he taunts.

“Kyaha! Bring it!”

He’s not going anywhere and neither is Haruichi or their feelings, so if he has to use the two idiots who better not be doing something inappropriate behind him as an excuse, then he will. He’ll also keep telling himself that he’s not running away, he’s just buying some more time, waiting until the moment is right. It’s the responsible thing to do, he thinks, and it also lets him sleep better at night.

✿✿✿

“You-san, wanna play some more Mortal Kombat later? We can have a rematch?” Haruichi offers, hopeful that because they don’t have morning practice tomorrow, he’ll say yes.

“Rain check?” Kuramochi sheepishly asks instead and Haruichi’s mood plummets. “I promised Bakamura I would help him with something after dinner.”

Haruichi already knows what the ‘something’ is, but still asks, “Is that something Miyuki-senpai?” 

“How’d you know?”

This is the third time Kuramochi’s turned down Haruichi’s offers to hang out outside of baseball. It’s a very sudden change as Haruichi tries not to pester the other often and Kuramochi is typically very lax with him. His first guess is that Kuramochi’s finally realized that he has a crush on him and this is his way of turning him down gently.

It’s fine, really, Kuramochi’s allowed to feel or not feel however he wants, Haruichi will get over it. It’s not affecting their partnership or their baseball, which is the most important thing right now. 

What’s not fine, is that every time Kuramochi rejects him, it’s because of Eijun and Miyuki. Constantly being put second to them feels crappy because, before everything else, he and Kuramochi are friends. They hang out together. They do extra practice together. They talk together. They’ve been spending a lot of time together lately, and now that they suddenly aren’t, he feels a bit lonely.

There’s also the fact that when Kuramochi denies him to go off and do whatever with Eijun and Miyuki, Haruichi can’t even hang out with his best friend instead.

He thinks for a second that the problem might be that he doesn’t want to be alone with Haruichi. That’s fine, too, as they mostly hang out in groups anyway. So at dinner one night, Haruichi takes the chance to ask if they can eat together. Not alone, but together.

Youichi flails for an excuse, eyes staring off to the side. Haruichi follows his line of vision to none other than Miyuki and Eijun who have already grabbed their food are sitting across from each other eating.

“We can sit with them,” Haruichi points out.

Kuramochi has the decency to look a bit guilty but it doesn’t change his answer. His offer to eat dinner together in a public setting gets turned down and Haruichi goes to eat with his fellow second-years.

Haruichi doesn’t mean to keep count of something like this, but he still bitterly adds another tally to the list he’s begun to keep in his head. That makes it four times now that he’s been pushed aside.

✿✿✿

The final straw comes during practice one evening when they’re working on some fielding drills again. It had been going fine during Furuya’s turn pitching and even when Eijun had first stepped on the mound all had been going as usual. He’s as loud as he always is, throwing compliments and encouragement out left and right while Miyuki throws in a few jabs himself, and every so often, Kuramochi will tell both of them to shut up.

Some of the first-string players who aren’t currently on the field and even some of the better second-string guys are acting as batters. Takatsu comes up to bat, and Haruichi knows he’s decent at getting grounders that slips in between the fielders, so he readies himself. He swings and misses the first pitch, then fouls out on the next two. The fourth pitch is when he makes solid contact, sending the ball careening right in between first and second base.

The runner already on first makes a dash for it but the start was slow so Haruichi knows that they can get the two outs easily.

“You-san!” Haruichi calls out as he fields the ball cleanly, snuggling fitting into his mitt. He takes a quick look at Kuramochi, to see what he wants, where he wants the ball, and how, what’s the easiest for him so that he can make the throw to first and get the double play. Except what he sees has him almost tripping and fumbling the ball that he’s grabbing from his mitt and into his throwing hand. 

For once, Kuramochi isn’t already looking at him. For once, Kuramochi’s distracted. Because instead of looking at where Haruichi is, he’s looking off to the right, towards the mound, towards Eijun, towards Miyuki. He’s giving them the attention that Haruichi’s been a bit desperate for recently, the attention that right now, during practice, during this play , Haruichi rightfully deserves as his partner.

It’s the last straw but there’s nothing he can do about it right this second. Instead, the play continues as if everything were in slow motion. Without Kuramochi’s input on how he wants the toss, Haruichi can’t do any of their normal daring plays so as a simple alternative he gives a generic toss. It’s one he would give to literally any other shortstop that wasn’t Kuramochi Youichi, and instead hopes that Kuramochi lives up to his cheetah nickname and is still fast enough to make sure this play is properly executed.

When Kuramochi finally does get his head out of his ass, he’s a bit shocked by the ball that’s already in mid-air being thrown towards him. He catches it, nonetheless, and they get the out at second at least, but Haruichi sees how he trips up. Sees the tiniest mistake in his footing that costs them a few more precious tenths of a second.

Kuramochi flings the ball towards first and his lack of a “kyaha” lets him know that Kuramochi’s noticed how much of a close-call this play is going to be. Haruichi follows the ball with his eyes, watches it land in Zono’s mitt at the same time that Takatsu’s foot hits the base. He waits with bated breath while his teammate by first acting as an umpire makes the call.

“Out!”

Haruichi lets out a deep sigh, only mildly relieved that they didn’t screw up. It doesn’t matter that they just barely got by with what should have been a failed play because the damage is already.

Annoyed, distressed, and beyond frustrated, Haruichi turns back to Kuramochi and yells, “Can you please start paying attention to me, You-san?”

It goes silent across the field and Kuramochi stares at him slack-jawed, like everyone else on the field probably, but Haruichi can’t tell because he’s only looking at him.

It’s then that he realizes what he’d just said, what he’s just yelled at his senpai, someone he would never dare to disrespect or butt heads with. Not to mention that no one else on the field will have any idea what he’s talking about because no one knows about the looks they share or the way they communicate. In their eyes, he must look like a spoiled brat throwing a hissy fit.

He can feel the blush setting in as his face starts to burn. He’s breathing heavily, chest heaving up and down and his right hand is shaking against his thigh. He doesn’t know what to do, what to say to push forward. He can’t even hide the hurt that must be showing on his face.

Kuramochi’s still dumbfounded but he finds his voice enough to let out a clear, “Okay.” 

He takes a deep breath, hoping the burning behind his eyes goes away, and turns to face Eijun who’s already looking at him, deep concern etched onto his face. Haruichi manages to muster up a small smile towards his friend and motions with his glove in a silent plea for him to start pitching again, to get practice rolling again so that everyone stops staring at him.

Eijun, thank the gods, understands and thrusts two fingers up in the air. “Two outs!” he shouts at the top of his lungs and the chorus of shut ups! and we know already! that rains down on him have things going back to normal.

He really shouldn’t have yelled. He’s so dramatic and immature. Why couldn’t he have just waited until practice was over to talk to Kuramochi? And now, despite the one being upset with Kuramochi not looking at him, Haruichi can’t bear to look at Kuramochi for the rest of practice.

He makes it through somehow and tries not to look too eager to bolt out before everyone else. Eijun hovers by his side a bit more than normal and he’s thankful for the silent support, grabbing the southpaw’s hand to squeeze it and offer a bit of his own encouragement.

“You’re looking really good in practice. I can’t wait to play at Koshien together again,” he says softly.

Eijun beams at him. “Of course! And we’ll go all the way this time! Wahaha!”

“Oi, Bakamura, you’re too loud!” Miyuki calls over to him, successfully stealing all of Eijun’s attention in a few words.

“Don’t lie Miyuki Kazuya! You love my loudness!” He stomps over to their captain who doesn’t bother trying to refute the claim, just shakes his head and smiles. 

Haruichi smiles to himself at their battery’s antics and goes back to shoving his glove into his bag so he can head out. 

He can feel Kuramochi hovering awkwardly behind him so he turns and has to hide the distaste in his mouth at how he looks at Haruichi like he’s a wounded animal.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Haruichi offers, slinging his bag over his shoulder to hopefully signal that he’ll be leaving in the next few seconds.

Kuramochi waves his hand in front of him. “Don’t worry about it, but… are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He’s not, of course, but he needs time to think and to cool down before he can come up with the proper words to say. Kuramochi’s not too convinced either by the disbelieving look he gives him. “I’m good, I just need to get some rest. I didn’t sleep that well last night,” he adds on, brushing past Kuramochi and starting to make his way off the field.

Kuramochi lets him go and Haruichi takes the chance to find refuge in his room. He’d really like to talk to Eijun but going to his room is not an option when he rooms with Kuramochi. Besides, he’s most likely getting in some extra pitching practice with Miyuki and Haruichi won’t take away the time he has left to play with Miyuki as the ace, not when he knows how hard Eijun’s worked for and wanted this.

As soon as he can, he flops on his bed and savors the few minutes he’ll get alone before his roommates get back. He allows the hurt that he’d been pushing to the side for the past hour and a half to seep back into his weary and tired body.

He’s hated it these past days, having Kuramochi constantly turn him down, to be put on the back burner while he fussed over Miyuki and Sawamura. Maybe he’s being bitter and immature, letting his personal feelings get in the way but he should be allowed to because it wasn’t always like this. Kuramochi’s never pushed him away no matter how much he’s teased or left lingering touches on him— for crying out loud, they almost kissed once!

He knew that Kuramochi’s constant rejections were getting to him but it was easier to compartmentalize it when it was outside of baseball and he thought that Kuramochi was just subtly letting him down.

He’s not so sure anymore because now he thinks that Kuramochi just doesn’t notice . Haruichi won’t lie, that hurts even more. The most observant and caring guy in the world has managed to not see the fraying in their relationship. Kuramochi, who always sees everything, no matter how small, has managed to miss Haruichi’s own dampened mood. 

Maybe it’s really not fair to think that way, however, because Haruichi is the one who went and started wanting something more. The partnership they’ve built has given others the illusion that they seamlessly move together on the baseball field like they can read each other’s minds. But in reality, they can’t. Kuramochi can’t actually read his mind so instead of being hurt over the distance Haruichi now feels between them, he needs to tell him to his face that he’s upset.

Haruichi spends the rest of that night trying to tire himself out. He eats dinner with Toujo and Kanemaru, does extra batting practice with Zono, and bathes a little earlier than normal with a few of his teammates that are not on the active roster.

He’s already made up his mind that he’ll talk with Kuramochi the following day after afternoon practice. The idea of confronting Kuramochi has his stomach churning, which is why he does everything he can to distract himself and avoid losing confidence.

When that inevitably fails because he’s always been prone to overthinking, he tries to rely on things he’s come to know as facts. Things like how kind and caring Kuramochi had always been towards him. That no matter what Haruichi says, Kuramochi will hear him out without making fun of him. One bump in the road doesn’t have to be the end of the world for them.

When it gets late enough that most people have moved to the indoor training facilities to make use of the lights, Haruichi grabs his bat and walks over to where Kuramochi and Zono are watching Eijun pitch to Miyuki.

Haruichi takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Everything will be fine , he tells himself. You need to do this for the sake of the team and yourself .

“You-san,” Haruichi blurts out before he can change his mind.

Youichi turns but so does Zono. “What’s up?” 

Haruichi swings his bat in front of him, gesturing to it. “Batting practice? And maybe we can talk?”

“In a second,” Kuramochi starts, looking back over his shoulder at where Eijun is winding up to release another pitch. “I was just gonna—”

“Kuramochi-senpai,” Haruichi cautions, not interested in hearing another excuse come out of his mouth. He feels vindictive pleasure in the way Kuramochi’s eyes bug out at being called by a name Haruichi hasn’t used since he was still wearing the number 19 jersey. He wonders if this is how his mom feels when she calls his dad by his first name instead of some term of endearment like ‘honey’ or ‘sweetheart’. He hopes Kuramochi feels like his dad does in those situations, like he’s in trouble. “Please,” he adds on as more of a demand than a plea.

“You’re in trouble,” Zono mocks whispers to Kuramochi.

“Shut up,” he hisses back and then looks to Haruichi. “Lead the way.”

Haruichi walks out of the lit building and up the steps that lead towards the fields, Kuramochi right on his tail. He stops when he finds a spot far enough away that they’ll get some privacy but not enough that they’re entrenched in darkness with no streetlights to guide them.

Haruichi doesn’t talk at first, opting to start swinging his bat until he feels like he can speak with spitting venom now that his anger has started to boil. Kuramochi doesn’t move despite bringing his own bat and Haruichi can feel his eyes trailing every one of his movements.

The issue is that the more they stand around each other in silence, the angrier Haruichi starts to feel, so he takes one last swing, huffs, then tosses his bat on the ground and turns to face Kuramochi head-on.

“What the heck were you doing at practice yesterday?” he bites out.

Kuramochi looks taken aback at being yelled at by Haruichi again. It’s understandable when Haruichi tends to stay calm and while he can get emotional, like yesterday, he doesn’t overtly show it like Eijun does or even Kuramochi when he’s ticked off.

“With the double play?” Kuramochi tries to clarify.

“Yes! How am I supposed to give you the throw you want when you aren’t even looking at me? That’s more than half of how we communicate on the field. You were too busy looking not at me and our play almost failed. I’m annoyed enough that I'm tempted to put the blame all on you.”

“Yeah.” He takes a step closer, hand rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly. “That was my fault for not paying attention. I get what you were saying then but I was mostly just shocked that you had yelled at me like that at the time.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t really get it.” He crosses his arms around his middle, hoping it’ll help to keep himself together.

Kuramochi tilts his head. “Get what?”

“This newfound fascination you have with Eijun-kun and Miyuki-senpai’s relationship,” he blurts out. “Are you like,” he waves a hand and looks up at the sky, “secretly in love with them or something?”

“Haruichi, Jesus, no I’m- I’m not in love with either of them, any of them. Not separate or together.” He turns away to scrub his hands over his eyes. “What the hell?”

“Then why were you so focused on them that couldn’t look at me? Why are you always with them nowadays?” Haruichi can feel himself getting more upset, getting a bit more hysterical than he wanted to and it’s making it hard for him to stop from letting everything pour out. “Why are you always turning me down for them? I know that they’re important to you. I know Sawamura’s like your little brother and Miyuki’s your best friend. But what about me?” His voice is shaky, losing its edge and sounding more like a desperate whine.

“What do you mean?” Kuramochi says, turning back to him, face contorted into disconcertment. He takes another step towards Haruichi. “You’re my partner of course.”

Haruichi takes a step back. “No, You-san. I’m not talking about baseball.” He turns to look over at the empty practice fields and takes a deep breath. He counts to five in his head, making a choice when he reaches the last number. He turns back to face Kuramochi, finding brown eyes already locked into him. “I like you,” he confesses, eyes watering. “What do you think about me?”

Haruichi can see the moment Kuramochi realizes exactly what Haruichi is talking about, watches as the confusion leaves his face, and is replaced with wide-eyed alarm. But Haruichi can’t stop now that he’s started and he doesn’t want to wait for a response so he keeps barreling on.

“It hurts that you’ve been avoiding me, so I just wanted to know why. It feels like something has happened to us and I don’t like it. You don’t look at me anymore and it’s… it’s lonely,” Haruichi chokes out, the tears finally overflowing and spilling down his face. For once he wishes he still had his old haircut so that he could hide away behind his bangs as he used to so he looks down and lets his hair fall in his face instead. “I know I’m saying a lot right now and I’m sorry to put you on the spot like this, I’m sorry for being selfish, but I needed to say something before I went crazy ruminating about my own thoughts.”  

When he looks up, Kuramochi's face has gone pale and he looks shaken, frozen in his spot. Haruichi takes a second to wipe the tears away and catch his breath. Once he’s calmed down and doesn’t feel like he’ll start sobbing again, he finishes. “Look, I don't need an answer about my confession, I just need you to stop avoiding me, because no matter what you’re still my partner and my friend. And I miss you, okay?”

Kuramochi nods but doesn’t open his mouth to answer verbally.

“Good, I just…I needed you to know.” Then he grabs his bat from where he tossed it on the ground and takes one last look at Kuramochi before he goes to leave. “Please think about what I’ve said,” he says and then starts walking away, brushing past Kuramochi on his way back down the path.

He jogs back to the indoor training facility, peeking inside just enough to see that Eijun and Miyuki are no longer there. He has a few guesses as to where they both are at this time and hopes that his first guess is the right one.

He heads back to the dorms and climbs up the steps to the second floor. He wipes his face once more, knowing that his eyes will be red for at least another fifteen or so minutes as they tend to be after he’s finished crying.

He knocks on the door to one of the first rooms and is met with a loud “Come in!”. Haruichi’s so relieved that Eijun’s the one that answers that he can’t help but chuckle, pushing the door open and stepping inside.

“Oi, don’t invite someone into a room that’s not your own,” Miyuki chastises from where he’s sitting at his desk, polishing his glove.

“Boo,” Sawamura pouts from his spot on Miyuki’s bed, magazine in his hand, but when he gets a good look at Haruichi he puts it down. “Harucchi, what’s wrong?”

Haruichi ignores him and faces Miyuki, who in turn ignores the redness of his eyes and the blotchiness of his face. “Can I borrow Eijun-kun?” he asks, voice sounding strained.

Sawamura yelps in protest. “Why are you asking him for permission?”

“Sure,” Miyuki laughs.

“Hello?!” Eijun bellows, waving his arms wildly to get their attention. “Why did you answer him Miyuki Kazuya?! I’m right here!”

Miyuki finally looks over at him and exaggeratedly jumps in his seat in surprise. “Oh wow, Sawamura, I didn’t know you were here,” He mockingly exclaims, clutching at the front of his shirt. “This whole time I just thought there was an annoying bee buzzing around my room.”

Sawamura takes Miyuki’s pillow and chucks it at him, growling, “Get. Out.”

He easily catches the pillow and tosses it back on the bed next to Ejiun. “Of my own room. I don’t think so.”

“Oh, I think so,” he assures, turning his nose up at Miyuki. “Harucchi and I need a place to talk so be gone, Cap!”

“Why can’t you use your room?”

“Because…” Eijun trails off, side-eying Haruichi, obviously having figured what— or who— this is about. “Because that place gives off bad energy.”

Miyuki nods solemnly. “That makes sense since you sleep there.”

“Excuse you, all of my energy is pure and good!”

“And loud,” Miyuki adds on in a fake cough. “Don’t worry, I get it. I’ll go. No need to beg.”

“NO ONE WAS BEGGING!”

Haruichi won’t lie, watching the two of them play off of each other like this makes him feel a bit better. He wishes he’d brought a snack or something with him as if he were in a movie theater. 

There’s also something about the ease of their banter that has him feeling like he’s intruding on a private moment. He takes note of how this Miyuki is one that he has never seen before, how he seems more like a teenager that’s having fun without the responsibility and weight of being the captain, starting catcher, and cleanup of west Tokyo’s top team. There’s no doubt that this Miyuki is solely reserved for Eijun or that Eijun in return takes good care of him.

“But you’ll have to pay the toll first.”

Eijun’s eyes narrow. “What toll?” he asks suspiciously, but then his eyes light up in recognition. “No way. You’re not tricking me into doing your laundry again.”

Haruichi was trying not to interfere but he can’t help but let out a laugh, slapping a hand over his mouth to muffle the sound.

Miyuki snorts. “No, not that. You know,” Miyuki wiggles his eyebrows, “the toll .”

Eijun whips his head from Miyuki to Haruichi and then back to Miyuki. “You sure?” he whispers.

“Yup,” Miyuki says, popping the ‘p’ exaggeratedly.

Eijun goes cat-eyed and huffs, but he gets up and crosses the room to stand in between  Miyuki’s legs. “Fine,” he grumbles, and then to Haruichi’s complete and utter shock, places his hands on Miyuki’s shoulders and bends down to plant a soft kiss on his lips.

The kiss lasts barely a second before Eijun’s popping back up, red-faced and grabbing at Miyuki’s wrist to heft him out of his seat and push him towards the door. “Alright, you got what you wanted, now leave.”

“I don’t know, that one was kinda weak,” Miyuki hums. “It’ll buy you ten minutes max.”

“You’ll stay out as long as Harucchi needs! Now go! You can go sit in my room if you want.”

“Sweet,” Miyuki says as he slips on a pair of sneakers. “I’m gonna go through all your stuff.”

“Like you haven’t already!” Eijun throws the door open, still trying to push Miyuki out the door who seems very keen on taking his time.

“Hmm, I really think you need to pay another toll.”

“In your dreams!”

Miyuki then leans in very close to Eijun’s face. “But I already do dream about you every time I close my eyes.”

Eijun's face erupts and Haruichi worries that the rest of his body will suffer from a lack of blood flow. Eijun yells a bunch of gibberish as he pushes his hand against Miyuki’s face, knocking his glasses askew before quite literally kicking Miyuki’s ass out the door.

“Bye Kominato!” Miyuki waves over Eijun’s head. “Hope everything works out for you.”

Haruichi has enough time to wave back when Eijun slams the door shut with all his strength and locks it. “Good riddance!” he shouts and makes a show of wiping his hands of some imaginary dust. He’s still fuming as he goes to sit back on Miyuki’s bed, hugging the pillow to his chest, and patting the empty spot next to him for Haruichi to sit down on.

“Uh, so how long have you two been,” Haruichi waves his hand, “that?”

“Oh!” Eijun brightens up. “Miyuki Kazuya’s been my boyfriend for about a week now.”

“Congrats, Eijun-kun. I’m happy for you.” 

“Thank you, Harucchi!” Eijun beams. “But don’t get me wrong, I still hate him.”

Haruichi just shakes his head. “I would have never thought otherwise.”

“Now Harucchi,” Eijun says, grabbing one of his hands to hold, “please tell me why you were crying.”

✿✿✿

Youichi was right about a few things it seems. 

One is that Haruichi would make a terrible shoujo protagonist because he does not— did not— put up with any bullshit, including Youichi’s. 

Two is that Haruichi does return his feelings. 

Three is that Haruichi is terrifying.

He was also wrong about some things too, like how he thought it would be fine to avoid Haruichi and to start worrying about Miyuki and Sawamura more than necessary. Those two are annoying but Youichi keeps putting himself in a position to be annoyed by them. He thought Haruichi would be fine in the meantime as he was never one to need babysitting or need Youichi to hold his hand before. It never occurred to him that despite that, Haruichi would still want to hold his hand.

Right or wrong, he’s an idiot and he keeps drilling that into his head as he spends an extra hour outside practicing his swings, only walking back to his room when he’s too exhausted to think anymore. He lets his bat drag sadly on the ground behind him, a physical representation of how he feels currently. Maybe he should drag himself through the mud before he crawls back to Haruichi and asks for forgiveness.

Deep down in a part of him that’s darker and more selfish, he can’t help but feel a little bit happy that Haruichi felt jealous enough to act like this. The fact that someone out there cares and wants Youichi enough that they’re willing to cry over him is comforting in a way. He knows it’s wrong to think like that but he’s lucky that Haruichi noticed him to the extent that when he wasn’t around as much anymore, he was missed. He feels wanted but he also feels so low.

The last thing he wants to see in his room when he’s looking for solace there is Miyuki, but there he is, casually lying on Sawamura’s bed as soon as Youichi throws the door open. His actual roommates, who have permission to be in the room whenever, are oddly absent.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” he grunts, leaning the bat up against the wall and toeing his shoes off.

“Talking to yours.” If this were any other time he’d feel flustered by that comment but now it’s just a shitty reminder of how he messed up. “So you couldn’t take your own advice, huh?”

Youichi squints at Miyuki. “Haruichi talk to you?”

“I may have been told a thing or two.” That doesn’t sound right, telling Sawamura he believes, but Haruichi is kind of private and he’s not foolish enough to tell Miyuki something sensitive that could be used against him in the future. He crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow at Miyuki until he amends his statement. “I may have eavesdropped on a thing or two.”

Youichi scoffs, “Thought so. Now get out.”

“Why?” Miyuki rolls over on the bed to lean over the railing. “You want the room to yourself so you can cry? You know, as your captain, I’m here to listen.~”

Youichi clicks his tongue. “Shut up. Don’t talk to me with that stupid face.”

The sound of Miyuki’s nasally laughter fills the room and Youichi thinks about if there are any other rooms he could go crash in. He can’t go to Miyuki’s room due to Sawamura and Haruichi most likely being there and he can’t go to Zono’s room, the obvious reason being that it’s also Haruichi’s room. He wonders for a split second if he should start being nicer to people so that maybe he’d have more friends.

He doesn’t have long to ponder that for too long when Sawamura comes storming back into the room and points his big dumb finger in Youichi’s face. “Are you stupid?”

It takes less than three seconds for Youichi to have him pinned to the floor and begging for mercy.

“Hahaha! Bakamura, you’re amazing!” Miyuki jeers, still watching from his perch up on Sawamura’s bed.

“Who are you calling stupid?” Youichi snarls, twisting Sawamura’s arm up and behind his back even further.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” 

“Oi, watching his pitching arm,” Miyuki says seriously.

“Oh, right,” he mumbles, letting go of Sawamura’s left arm only to grab his right and start contorting that one.

“Ow! Cap, you’re not helping!” Sawamura cries out.

Miyuki climbs down the bunk’s ladder and approaches where they’re sprawled out on the floor. “Who says I was trying to help?”

Sawamura huffs loudly and starts vigorously wiggling underneath Youichi in an effort to be let go. “I wouldn’t need it anyway! I’m right you know!” Youichi tightens his grip and Sawamura wheezes. “You are a dummy for making Haruichi cry!”

Youichi deflates at that reminder, letting go of Sawamura who scrambles over to hide behind Miyuki. He crawls over to lean against his bed and throws his head back with closed eyes.

He’s never felt as shitty before in his entire life as when he helplessly watched the tears start to stream down Haruichi’s pretty face. He was so taken aback by the confession and how upset Haruichi was that he couldn’t move. What good is being fast when you can’t use those reflexes when they matter the most?

He’s never seen Haruichi cry before, not even during last year’s Inashiro game. He was too busy crying himself as a second-year over a repeat loss and the third-years having to retire. He’d had nothing to offer anyone else when he couldn’t even get himself together. 

This situation, however,  has nothing to do with baseball and everything to do with how he was a jerk to his partner. 

“I need to apologize,” Youichi sighs.

“Of course you do,” Sawamura slurs out. “Haruichi’s an angel after all.”

Sawamura’s voice comes out so subdued and uncharacteristically calm that he opens his eyes, curious to see what’s got him like that. While Youichi was lost in his head, Miyuki had taken it upon himself to start kneading at the pitcher’s shoulder and back muscles. 

Miyuki’s sitting in Sawamura’s desk chair with a look of serious concentration on his face as he works his hands over Sawamura who’s sitting cross-legged on the floor in between his legs.

Youichi eyes them up. It’s a suspiciously mundane task but Youichi thinks there must be some trick or joke that he’s missing. “What are you doing?”

“Taking care of my pitcher,” Miyuki lilts, a sleazy grin on his face.

“Yeah, Kuramochi-senpai,” Sawamura mumbles, head lolling off to the side. He looks positively drugged and it hasn’t even been five minutes but Youichi thinks he gets it now. He’s never seen his roommate look so tranquil, not even during the winter training camp from hell when they were all dying, even then he’d still managed to be loud and pesky. “You should take care of your partner too.”

He purses his lips, trying to imagine him touching Haruichi the same way Miyuki’s touching Sawamura. He feels like he’d just end breaking Haruichi. He’ll skip the massage for now and just go with the apology.

“Where are you going?” Miyuki asks when he gets up and heads toward the door.

“Might as well go talk to Haruichi now.” He shrugs, getting ready to slip on a pair of shoes.

“Don’t do that,” Sawamura says, eyes closed and head still hanging down.

“And why not?”

“He needs more time to cool off,” Sawamura explains. “I agree that you shouldn’t wait too long but tomorrow would be better. For Haruichi, at least.”

It's weird hearing Sawamura talk in such a soft voice at a normal volume as it makes Youichi want to listen to him. That and it might be best to not push Haruichi too much in one night. 

“Is this like his off button?” Youichi asks Miyuki, nodding his head to where Miyuki’s still digging his thumbs into the boy’s back.

Miyuki only lifts his index finger to press against his lips and with a wink, shushes him.

✿✿✿

For once, Youichi plans on following Sawamura’s advice. His roommate had spent the better part of an hour listening to Haruichi talk about Youichi’s idiocy last night so he thinks he’d know a thing or two on how to go about mending their relationship.

He didn’t go running to Haruichi last night like he initially wanted to, instead he let him cool down and played things as normal all this morning. He gave him space without avoiding him. They said good morning to each other, practiced together like usual, and still gave each other a thumbs up after a nice play.

It’s all going okay until afternoon practice ends and Youichi has to start figuring out what he wants to say. I’m sorry is a good place to start but also not good enough. If he were good with words he wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place because saying I like you wouldn’t have seemed so damn intimidating. Words are all he’s got now because there’s no way he’s going to do something dumb like get Haruichi flowers or write a confession letter. He can’t rely on action either. What’s he going to do? Beat the stupid out of himself? Or better yet, just kiss Haruichi without warning and have Haruichi punch him in the face for him.

Youichi knows he’s chickening out, but he just wants to stop by his room once more before he goes looking for Haruichi. He regrets that decision instantly when he opens his door and, once again, sees Miyuki.

This time is different though because he doesn’t only see Miyuki, no, that’d be too simple, instead, he sees Miyuki with a lap full of Sawamura while Miyuki’s hands have suspiciously disappeared beneath the waistband of Eijun’s track pants.

“What the fuck is this?” comes tumbling out of his mouth and he couldn’t stop it even if he tried.

Sawamura’s squawking and trying to push himself off of Miyuki but the bastard got a death grip on the poor kid’s ass. He quickly gives up and tries to hide his face in Miyuki’s neck.

“Why are you here?” Miyuki asks and there’s not a shameful bone in his body as he slides Sawamura closer to him and Youichi avoids thinking about how close their groins are now as his soul slowly starts to leave his body.

He presses two fingers against his temple and starts massaging the area to preemptively stop the headache he knows is coming. “I’m going to kill you.”

“Sure,” Miyuki grins, and he says it so happily too as if dying right now would all be worth it because he’s got Sawamura’s legs wrapped around his waist.

“I’ll be back in less than an hour, you better be gone by then,” Youichi snaps, lip curling in anger as he rips the door closed and turns away. 

He just knows that now that that’s happened, they're going to be even more insufferable. He expected that kind of behavior from Miyuki, but not Sawamura. With all his talk about shoujo manga and romance, he’d thought he’d make Miyuki follow some kind of set of relationship guidelines where they start at handholding and only end up at the NC-17 stuff once they’re married. Apparently not because Sawamura looked way too at home sitting on Miyuki’s lap. Unless this thing isn’t as new as he thought it was… 

“Actually, I’m not done,” Youichi says when he rips the door open again. It’s been less than ten seconds, but Miyuki’s already taken his shirt and is in the process of wiggling Sawamura out of his. “What the fuck?” he reiterates. “The door isn’t even locked.”

Miyuki tosses Sawamura’s shirt somewhere on the floor. Sawamura crosses his arms protectively over his chest like Youichi hasn’t already seen him naked. Like Sawamura hasn’t already asked Youichi does this mole on my butt look weird while shamelessly dropping his pants.

Leering at him from over Sawamura’s shoulder, Miyuki answers, “We heard from Kominato that you might be into watching us.”

Youichi pales a little because that means Haruichi told Sawamura everything, including the part where he accused him of being in love with these two. Sawamura in turn then must have told Miyuki everything with more exaggerated details and now Miyuki’s spitting it back into his face with even more twists in the worst rendition of whisper down the lane he’s ever heard.

At the mention of Haruichi, Sawamura turns to glare at Youichi over his shoulder. “Harucchi hasn’t heard an apology yet, Senpai,” he accuses.

Miyuki laughs, hands running up and down Sawamura’s back in a soothing motion. “I can’t believe Eijun and I got our shit together before you and Kominato did.”

“It’s not a competition,” Youichi growls. In truth, he’s a little pissed at that too because he’s going to have to deal with exactly this: Miyuki’s smarmy attitude.

“It is and we’re winning. Also, I’ve never made Eijun cry.”

Sawamura pushes against Miyuki’s chest to give him a look like he’s got three heads. “Yes, you have,” Sawamura protests.

“Shh,” Miyuki hums to appease him, patting one of his cheeks, “tears of pleasure don’t count.”

Youichi makes a retching sound. “I just wanted to know how long this has been going on.”

“About a week,” Miyuki answers quickly. He’s not looking at Youichi anymore, eyes completely trained back on Sawamura’s face and intertwining one of his hands with the younger’s.

Yeah, Youichi’s seen more than enough. “Sawamura,” he calls and Sawamura whips his head towards him like a dog that’s been given a command. It gives him the tiniest bit of respite when Miyuki scowls at him for so easily taking Sawamura’s attention away from him. “Miyuki has a senpai kink, use that however you want.” Then he addresses both of them. “You have an hour, stay the fuck off my bed.” 

He slams the door shut again, wondering if after he apologizes to Haruichi he could ask him to hit him in the head with his wooden bat so that he might forget the nightmare-inducing scene he had walked in on. 

Only a week, huh , he thinks. They sure aren’t wasting any time. While he would never admit it out loud, he is happy for his friends. The look in Miyuki's eyes when he was holding Sawamura just now screamed of pure happiness and contentment so he doesn’t mind giving them a bit of time alone while he sorts out his own shit.

And if anything, what he just went through should be taken as a sign to stop dicking around and go find Haruichi.

So he does.

It surprisingly doesn’t take long, more like he stumbled upon him than searched for him, Haruichi having been sitting on the bench by the vending machines. His batting gloves are still on while he takes a sip of his favorite blue sports drink and his bat is leaning against his leg.

It makes Youichi smile as he remembers how Haruichi had once admitted that he sometimes has trouble twisting the tops off of unopened sports drink bottles. He either has to wear his gloves and use the grip they give him as leverage or he has to shyly ask Youichi for help.

Haruichi spots Youichi as soon as starts walking towards him with intent, twisting the cap back onto his drink and waiting with a raised brow.

“Can we talk, Haruichi?” He scratches the back of his head, then shoves both his hands in his pockets to hide the nervous tick, wincing at how lame he sounds.

“You thought about what I said already?” Haruichi asks. The disbelief in his voice hurts a bit but he can’t blame him. That doesn’t mean he’s willing to put up with the slight attitude from a short second-year though.

His jaw tightens and he gestures for Haruichi to follow after him. “Come with me,” he demands.

He leads Haruichi to the same spot that they had occupied the previous night, past the dorms and closer to the practice fields. It’s not late enough yet for the lights to be on and there are still a few players lingering around on the fields below them, making use of what’s left of the daylight.

Youichi’s not a coward, he’d like to think. He’d beaten kids up no problem in middle school, faced off against some of the toughest and most skilled players in all of high school baseball, and his coach is a certified demon. He’s not the type to back down but none of that seems to matter with how he falters now under Haruichi’s expectant gaze.

Haruichi deserves better than to be with a wimp. The whole reason why they’re in this mess is because Youichi hesitated, tried to play it safe, stayed on first instead of trying to steal second, and now he’s in no better position to score.

Haruichi deserves better because he’s the one who stepped up to the plate, confident in every stride even if wasn’t feeling so on the inside. He took every chance to advance the runner. Took every chance to ask Youichi for more only for Youichi to do the equivalent of getting out on a pickoff from his team’s own damn battery.

The least Youichi can do is offer him the same honesty.

“Listen, Haruichi,” Youichi starts, dragging a hand down his face. “You were straightforward with me, so I’m gonna do the same for you.” There’s no logical reason why his stomach starts to turn with nerves or why he feels like running away, he already knows Haruichi likes him back. Still, he takes a deep breath and steels himself, hands clenched into fists by his sides. “I like you, too.”

Judging by the way Haruichi’s eyes widen and his jaw slightly drops, he wasn’t anticipating that. What Youichi didn’t anticipate is that Haruichi would step forward and chop his hand down on top of his head in a move evocative of his older brother.

“You hit me,” Youichi whispers in breathless awe, bringing a hand up to rub at the sore spot on his head. The boy who would never hurt a fly just hit him making him feel both dazed and a little crazy.

“Are you kidding me?” Haruichi says, pinching the bridge of his nose. “If you felt the same way then what the heck have you been doing this whole time?”

“Being an idiot.”

“Please explain, You-san,” Haruichi begs, “because this isn’t making sense to me.”

Youichi nods and takes a step forward, trying to close the distance between them. “Yeah, the more I look back on it doesn’t make any sense to me either. First off, I’m sorry for hurting you. I didn’t realize you were feeling that way and if I had I would have done something about it sooner.” He lets out a sigh and runs his fingers through his hair, messing up the locks that were still styled and stiff with hair gel. “I was using dumb and dumber as an excuse to avoid you because I was trying to put off when I would tell you how I felt until after I retired from the team.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t want anything to happen that would possibly jeopardize us or the team so close to nationals.” Which failed miserably and blew up in his face. “Look what good that did,” he mutters.

Haruichi crosses his arms. “Why did that mean you suddenly had to stop spending time with me?”

“It was starting to get harder for me to not blurt out my feelings,” Youichi says softly, a blush forming high on his cheeks. “I just wanted to buy some more time. I didn’t mean for it to bleed into our baseball— what happened at practice was just me being careless.” He takes another step. “I understood your outburst better afterward when you had stopped looking back at me. I didn’t like that one bit.”

Haruichi bites his lip and he can tell that the younger boy is mulling over everything in his head. “You’re still dumb,” he mumbles.

Youichi laughs lightly. He can concede to that one. “You know, you’ve gotten real cheeky. Who’ve you been hanging out with that taught you that?”

A huge weight is lifted off his chest when Haruichi lets out a laugh. “The same person that taught Eijun-kun to say ‘fuck’.”

Hearing Haruichi casually curse like that is not good for his health.

“I told that little shit to do as I say not as I do.” He shakes his head but peers down at Haruichi. “You’re not allowed to say that either.”

“Or what?” Haruichi challenges.

Ah, and this is the Haruichi he wanted. The one with fire in his eyes and determination running through his veins. He’s come such a long way from where he started when he first got to Seido, but now he’s here, standing in front of Youichi and facing him head-on. It’s not something a lot of people can get away with without Youichi biting back, but with Haruichi, all he really wants to do is kiss him.

So he takes yet another step and now they’re toe-to-toe as looks down his nose at Haruichi. He can see the brown in his eyes again, but with the absence of shock that was present the last time they were this close, all it does is fill Youichi with warmth. Haruichi’s trying to stare him down, to show him that he isn’t going to back off and it’s amusing, making Youichi smirk with how the blush on his face lessens his defiance.

Youichi shoves one hand in his pocket, but the other comes up to cup one of Haruichi’s rose-colored cheeks, thumb brushing across the soft skin to tuck a few strands of his hair behind his ear and open up his face more.

“Or I’ll have to make you listen.” His voice sounds gruffer than he means it to but it makes Haruichi shiver and oh , he could so get used to those kinds of reactions. It’s much more telling than his usual blush.

He drops his hand from Haruichi’s cheek to grasp at his jaw, thumb under his chin forcing him to tilt his head up until their mouths are better aligned across from each other.

But because Haruichi is Haruichi and he has to have the last word, he whispers a, “I’d like to see you try” right before Youichi presses their lips together. 

The world could be burning around them and Youichi couldn’t care less, not when Haruichi’s kissing him back with petal-soft lips like he’s been starving for it. It’s addicting the way he invades all of Youichi’s sense, from the sweet taste of his mouth to the little breathy sounds he lets escape every time their lips slide against each other.

He doesn’t really know what he’s doing, having never kissed anyone before, and he can’t tell if Haruichi has either but the slow languid pace they keep is so unbelievably euphoric he keeps peeking his eyes open to make sure he hasn’t imagined all of this.

One of Haruichi’s hands grabs onto his shoulder to pull him closer while the other traces patterns on the arm that’s holding his jaw. Youichi takes his hand out of his pocket and clutches the hand on his shoulder, lacing their fingers together and letting them fall to hang by their sides.

He’s reluctant to stop but grudgingly has to back off when he feels like he’ll go light-headed from lack of oxygen. When he pulls away, Haruichi tries to follow him, going on his tiptoes to extend the kiss even just a second longer, but it’s worth it to break apart and see Haruichi’s dazed state— lips beginning to swell red, pupils blown wide, and a slight furrow to his brow.

He’s so hyperfocused on Haruichi that he seems to have forgotten that they’re both standing out in the open, with daylight still illuminating them, and making out on a pathway that their teammates frequently use.

Embarrassed, he looks round to make sure they haven’t been spotted. “Uh, we should go back to my room.” He keeps his hold on Haruichi’s hand and starts to tug him eagerly back down the path and towards the dorms.

“Okay,” Haruichi chirps out like he’s content to do whatever Youichi wants.

It isn’t until they’re at the bottom of the steps that Youichi remembers what he’d seen earlier in his room, and how that makes it off-limits for now.

He gives the hand cradled within his own a squeeze. “On second thought my room’s not really an option right now. You’ll never believe what I walked in on earlier.”

Haruichi hums. “Was it Eijun-kun and Miyuki-senpai?”

“You knew already?” He looks off at the path in front of them. “Well, I guess Sawamura would have told you. They’re both unbelievable and now they’re in my room doing who knows what. They’re going to be ten times worse now and I refuse to share a hotel room with either of them while we’re at Koshien.”

“Do you really want to be talking about them right now?” Haruichi asks, voice a little too sweet for his comfort, and Youichi feels a chill down his spine at the way he squints his eyes and his face goes dark. It’s a face that Sawamura has dubbed his ‘evilichi’ one, and Youichi is quick to agree.

“Nope.”

Haruichi is right, of course. There’s no need to talk about Sawamura and Miyuki right now… or ever. They may be the main characters in their own story, but not in Youichi’s. The more he thinks about it, the more he’s coming to the dreadful realization that he just might be the shoujo manga protagonist here. A former delinquent turned softie who’s a bit more oblivious than he knows with an asshole best friend, idiot kohai, and an uncomplicated love interest. The only thing he’s done here is make problems for himself.

Then Haruichi leans his head on Youichi’s shoulder and everything falls into place. In retrospect, it’s stupid that he wanted to put this off, to have even less time to be with Haruichi because like this it’s peaceful and quiet. Simple and warm.

Maybe their story isn’t as entertaining as others but that’s just how he likes it, it’s one of the reasons why he likes Haruichi so much, why they fit. He doesn’t play mind games, doesn’t say one thing but mean another, or try to hide himself away. He’s honest, kind, hardworking, and, as Youichi’s coming to understand more and more, he could kick Youichi’s ass if he really wanted to. So yeah, maybe their story isn’t overdramatic or one for the ages, but it’s the one he likes the most and it’s also one that’s only just begun.