Work Text:
Kanemaru couldn't understand why, for the past couple of days, Sawamura Eijun (with Furuya in tow), had been acting like his personal assistant. He had been extra persistent about this.
"Kanemaru, let me carry your bag for you. No? But Furuya carries my bag for me, see? I can carry that for you."
"Kanemaru, let me pull up your chair for you."
"Kanemaru, would you like me to clean your gloves for you? I'm cleaning mine and Furuya's! I can clean yours, too."
"Kanemaru, here, I already have your food. See, I made sure to have vegetables on your plate."
"Kanemaru, do you want me to pitch for you for practice? Or if not, Furuya can pitch for you?"
"Kanemaru, do you want me to scrub your back?"
And that's it. Kanemaru had enough. It's bad enough that Eijun has been tailing him all day, he had to endure the poorly hidden glares from Furuya. Plus, their classmates started to think he's getting in the way of Furuya and Eijun's relationship and has been bugging him in their group chat (Some of the girls were straight up being mean about it. Poor Kanemaru).
Was it his fault that Eijun acted the way he did? He didn't ask for this, you know? This must end, for his peace of mind.
He would prefer talking to Furuya alone, but seeing as he and Eijun have been inseparable most of the time, he didn’t have much of a choice. He approached the two as they were heading to the baths.
"Furuya, can I talk to you for a bit?"
"Oh, do you need anything, Kanemaru?" Eijun asked, thinking it might be a chance to help. "Did you change your mind about me scrubbing your back?"
"No!" Furuya and Kanemaru said at the same time.
Eijun shrinked back, surprised at their outburst. "Okay, okay. You two can talk." He walked away like a kicked puppy. Furuya looked a little worried but didn't follow.
Kanemaru sighed. Let's get this over with, he thought. "Furuya, what is wrong with Sawamura? He's been following me around to help, but I didn't even ask him to!"
"He wanted to pay you back," Furuya answered.
"For what?"
"I told him about the Furusawa Protection Squad," was all Furuya said.
Ah, that explained everything. "Tch, that idiot (Furuya glared at him), ah, that– that Sawamura. He didn't need to go through all of that. He could simply say thank you like a normal person."
"I'll tell him to stop bugging you," Furuya sighed as if relieved. "I was starting to think you were enjoying Eijun's attention."
"What?! Of course I wasn't," Kanemaru protested.
Furuya squinted at him, disbelieving. "Eijun said something about him thinking you had something special before."
"And you heard me deny it! There really wasn't anything special between us," Kanemaru said as he mentally cursed Eijun for being so dramatic.
"You let him serve you food for lunch earlier," Furuya continued.
Argh! Kanemaru very much wanted to scream. He took a few deep breaths instead before explaining. "Because he was being persistent about it! He already had the food ready, it would've been a waste to not receive it."
Furuya squinted at him some more.
"Furuya, you have to believe me," Kanemaru explained, hoping he sounded convincing enough. "I really don't like Sawamura like that. He's just a friend."
Furuya finally nodded after a few moments, as if deciding he'd been telling the truth.
"Alright, I'll talk to Eijun. Well, then," Furuya said, dismissing Kanemaru.
Kanemaru breathed out in relief. Thank goodness that's over.
Furuya was relieved that Kanemaru turned out to be harmless, and not in fact trying to take Eijun away from him.
He knows that Eijun likes him, and he trusts Eijun. But he just can't help feeling jealous at times when Eijun is especially so likeable. He is very sweet and caring without effort, and yes, a little too loud and intense, but those are the things that make him Eijun. All of it, Furuya likes and more.
He made his way to the bathroom, Eijun already waiting for him by the door. He no longer looked like a kicked puppy, but he still looked a little subdued.
"So, what's it about?" Eijun asked as soon as Furuya reached him.
"Kanemaru said you didn’t need to do things for him to thank him," Furuya said. "A simple thank you would suffice."
Eijun blinked. "Okay, but why didn't he just tell me himself?"
"Because you wouldn't listen to him. He's been turning you down every time and yet you insisted. Also he–"
"He what?" Eijun asked. Furuya just ignored him and entered the bathroom first.
He did ask Kanemaru the same question earlier.
"Tch, even if I wanted to shake Eijun into hearing me out, I couldn't exactly go near him without you growling and glaring at me to death," Kanemaru grumbled.
Furuya felt embarrassed for his behavior (which was how it was left out in the previous narrative). He knew Eijun wouldn't make fun of him (he hopes so), but he's ashamed to admit that he got jealous. Being jealous meant that he was insecure about his relationship with Eijun. And this is the one bit that he didn’t want to admit to Eijun.
He went and peeled his clothes off and started washing himself without preamble, ignoring a pouting Eijun who also started his rituals next to him.
Furuya couldn't bear seeing him pout, he just can't. "Do you want me to scrub your back?" he offered.
Eijun stopped to look at him, still pouting. "Only if you tell me the part that you left out."
Furuya sighed, he figured he couldn't really hold back from Eijun. He looked around and thankfully there were only a couple of first years lounging on the tub, not really paying attention to them.
He could feel heat blooming on his cheeks. "Kanemaru-kun said he couldn't tell you directly because I kept growling and shooting him death glares."
Eijun blinked and then started laughing (Furuya was wrong, Eijun laughed at him). His laugh, which was normally loud, echoed in the bathroom startling the other occupants. Furuya shushed him.
"Ah, I'm sorry about that," Eijun said to no one in particular. He laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. "Satoru, you were jealous? That's so funny! Why didn't you want to tell me that?"
Furuya sighed. "I didn't want to admit that I was jealous. It would be like admitting I don't trust you."
"Oh, Satoru. It's normal to be jealous sometimes, we just can't help it. Even I get jealous sometimes," Eijun admitted. "Oh my gosh, it's so cute how you got jealous at Kanemaru."
"You also get jealous?" Furuya asked, completely ignoring the last bit. He's still embarrassed at how he acted around Kanemaru.
"Yes, I do. Satoru, you're an amazing person, you're cool and mysterious, and man, you're the monster pitcher! You have a lot of fangirls," Eijun explained. "But then I just remind myself that you have expressed how much you like me not just in words, but in so many ways so I trust you."
Eijun's words and smile tugged at Furuya's heart. I like him so much, Furuya thought. "I trust you too, Eijun."
"That's right, trust in your ace," he said smugly and Furuya had to scoff. "And I want us to be honest in this relationship, okay? Even if it's just something petty like this."
Furuya nodded.
"Yoshi! Now you can scrub my back," Eijun ordered as he turned his back to Furuya.
"Got it, Ace."
As Furuya scrubbed down his boyfriend's back (a very nice back in his opinion), he realized he was happy to have this kind of connection with someone. He didn't have this kind of someone back home– someone he could compete with, someone who pushes him to his limits, someone who inspires him to do his best, someone who shares the same passion as his (they're both baseball idiots), and someone who makes him oh-so-happy he feels like his heart could burst anytime.
Furuya has decided he will do his best to keep him. And they would write ther own love story worthy of a shoujo manga.
(A few moments later…
Furuya: "Eijun, are you okay?"
Eijun: *squeaks*
"…no, I think I'm overheating.")