Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eijun was 10 years old when he met Miyuki Kazuya. It wasn’t the best of circumstances, in fact, it was the worst circumstances Eijun could think of.

Eijun had never lived in the best of conditions, it was a matter of time before someone had to notice the occasional bruise he showed up with, and how he always seemed hungry. Eijun had his suspicions on which teacher had finally said something about it, earning him a surprise home visit; which, expectedly, didn’t go well.

He was taken away from home and plopped into a random group home at the bat of an eye.

He knew that nobody was in a rush to get him back home.

—------

“Are you going to skip dinner again?” Eijun looked up at the older boy above him, leaning over the wooden foot of the bed in the shared room. “Why does it matter to you?” He looked back down at the book of plain paper in his lap, resuming his task of sketching lightly onto it.

The boy pointedly ignored the younger, moving to sit next to Eijun and leaning over to look at the book. “You’re drawing baseball? Do you play?” Eijun nodded his head lightly in response, “Are you any good?” To that he shrugged and continued to draw.

“I’m a catcher, I like to think i'm pretty good,” Eijun stopped his hand for a moment to look up to the boy at his side,”You’re a catcher?” Eijun grew slightly less tense and awkward as he got confirmation, “I’m a pitcher!”

“I’m Miyuki Kazuya, I’m 12, what about you?”

“Eijun Sawamura, 10.”
—--------

From then on, they grew inseparable. Eijun seemed to be attached to the hip of the older catcher, never more than 5 feet away from him. Wherever you saw Miyuki, you saw Eijun; and vice versa. Miyuki wasn’t as clingy, but the fondness clearly wasn’t one sided; It went both ways.

The first problem hadn’t occurred until Miyuki got a visit, a woman from a highschool trying to scout him. This was a good thing, all things considered, but there was one minor problem.

Eijun.

Eijun couldn’t last five minutes without Miyuki, no doubt Miyuki couldn’t last ten without Eijun. 3 years away from each other? That was unheard of. They had been together every single day for the past 3 years.

“No.” Was the answer provided to the scout, no explanation was given, nor did the boy hesitate. She seemed shocked at the outright denial,”No?”

“No.” He echoed back to her,”I can’t leave Eijun here alone, he would suffer. I would suffer,”

The lady looked at the boy sleeping beside Miyuki. He had carried him into the room with him, but she had assumed there was a different —less complex—- reason for it.

She had been scouting Miyuki for more than a year, and she was determined to get him onto the team no matter what.

“What if he came with you?” This seemed to catch the boy's attention, making him shift in his seat.

“He can do that?” she knew she had won him over then, leaving no reason for him to reject her again. “Leave it all to me, don't worry. He would be your responsibility, though, everything would be in your hands.”

—------

Chapter Text

CHAPTER ONE

When Miyuki had first heard the idea, he was skeptical. Why was this random lady willing to let Eijun come just so she could have Miyuki on the team? How did she even scout him? Who the hell was she? And which school did she come from again?

Despite that, they had settled in nicely. They met their roommates, Masuko Toru and Kuramochi Yoichi, who had been confused about their situation but were nice overall.

Now, they stand, bright and early, in front of their coach’s excruciating gaze as all the first years introduced themselves. For no reason, considering the coach was going to forget their names in a matter of seconds.

“You.” He pointed at Miyuki, indicating it was his turn to speak. “I’m Miyuki Kazuya, I was homeschooled and I want to be a catcher!” The coach gave a nod and looked at the boy standing slightly behind the one he was speaking to previously, ”You. Why aren’t you in uniform?”

“Well I technically don’t attend this school normally,” He shrugged, moving a bit more behind Miyuki as everyone's eyes drew to him. Jesus, what a way to make a guy feel nervous.

“You what?” The coach turned to look at him completely, tipping his head a bit to get a glimpse above his glasses.

“Well I’m only here because he,” He pointed to the boy he was currently using as a body shield, “Wouldn’t agree to come without me, I’m still supposed to be in junior high for a couple more years. It’s all super complicated,” He summarized nervously. All of these eyes on him made him feel as though he was being judged.

Though, to be fair, he was, in fact, being judged.

“You, come see me after practice, NEXT!” There were a few lingering eyes as the coach moved on from the confusing situation, which made Sawamura want to hide even more. “Kazuya, if I kick a couple of kids can you promise not to get mad?”

“Stop being dramatic, they won’t touch you. And stop hiding behind me, scaredy cat.”

Practice went on as Eijun sat on the sidelines, pitching to the wall while simultaneously keeping an eye on Kazuya. The first half of practice was fine, they were allowed a small break and the pair spent it working on Eijun's improving pitch.

They had been training together since they met, so Eijun was naturally more skilled than most kids his age.

It was near the end of break when they heard someone harshly grilling a kid. Seemingly for no reason. Eijun, of course, couldn’t just stand by at the display. What Eijun said, essentially, was what everybody was thinking. He was never one to hold back.

“You have no right to bully anybody, beer belly! I bet you have the skills of a loaf of stale bread. I’m still in junior high and I could easily strike you out 3 times over!”

So, not even ten full minutes after his declaration, he was dressed and ready to prove his point. He was a man on a mission.

More like a side quest, actually.

Miyuki knew what his best friend was capable of, he knew he wasn’t going to hold back. He knew nobody else could catch his pitch. So, to save whatever poor soul was going to attempt it, Kazuya signed himself up to be the catcher behind the batter. The coach was curious to see the outcome, how would these kids fare against their best batter?

The answer was clear in the first pitch he threw. The difference in skill was apparent. It was right down the middle, the pitch was right down the middle and he couldn’t hit it. Eijun's control was near perfect, he didn’t appear to have much speed or power behind the pitch itself but there had to be something different about it.

He was able to strike him out immediately, even though he threw the same pitch to the same spot every.single.time.

Now everyone was intrigued. Not only with the pitcher, but with the catcher as well. He called for the same pitch? To the same spot? Against Asuma of all players? He wasn’t nervous? He didn’t think he was good enough to hit it?

He knew what he was doing and he played his cards perfectly.

These kids. This battery. They were going to shake Seido.

The coach needs a break as well as a well earned drink.

—-----------

“I want you on my team.” He spoke as soon as I walked into his office, shocking me with his upfront admission. Not one to beat around the bush? I like him.

I was confused by this, though, I had to be in high school to play on the team. Was he still not aware? “I’m planning on attending Seido for my 3 years of high school, sir, I’ll happily join your team when the time comes.”

Coach seemed to be deep in thought, we sat in silence for a bit until you spoke up, “How smart would you say you are?”

What? “I’m not dumb but I’m not necessarily a genius. I help Kazuya with his homework sometimes, why?” The coach nodded thoughtfully, “How do you feel about testing into high school a couple years early?”

—---------------

A few weeks and a lot of paperwork later, Sawamura Eijun, age 13, was officially a first year. Two years early.

Needless to say, he and Miyuki were first string players. Were they starters? No. But were they ahead of the game? Definitely.

—----------------

“This is Eijun, nobody hurts him, touches him, speaks to him or befriends him. You hurt him and you’re dead.”

The rest of the team nervously agreed to the possessive terms of the catcher they’ve grown to know, not wanting to overstep whatever the pair had going on.

It was harmless for now, they were known to keep to themselves so very few players were surprised by this set of 'rules'.

They practiced like normal, the first string players basically adopting their new teammates. They haven’t made an effort to warm up to their upperclassman, but nobody took offense to this. One person they did enjoy, though, was Isashiki Jun.

It was surprising who they chose to indulge in the company of, but nobody could blame them.

The only complaint they had about the pair was that they genuinely couldn't care less. They don’t follow directions that they don’t want to and they don’t filter themselves at all.

It was definitely the product of their bad home life, no doubt, but it was entertaining. They would be set straight soon enough.

—------------------------

“Eijun, stop complaining, be glad you have something to do besides pitching to the wall all day.”

“But I want to pitch to the wall all day,” He whined, shoving himself into the boy at his side so he could stand with their bodies together.

It was his first day in school since he came to Seido and it was clear he didn't want to be there.

The taller boy chuckled and put his arm around the pitcher for comfort. Looking down at him with fondness in his eyes, “Eijun, this is your classroom, I have to head to mine.”

“I don’t wanna go, please don’t force me.” Sawamura held on tighter and looked up at his best friend with the best sad face he could muster.

“That’s not going to work today, head to class,” Kazuya moved a few strands of Sawamura’s hair and gave a light kiss to his forehead, ruffling his hair afterwards, “Go ahead,”

Eijun walked into the classroom, a bit happier than he was before.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER TWO

Miyuki walks through the slightly crowded hallways of Seido, hands in his pockets and glasses falling down his nose ever so slightly while he directs himself through crowds of people. He makes it to his destination and walks through the doorway, pushing his glasses up as he tries to find his friend.

He makes a beeline toward the back of the classroom, moving so he's not in the way of anybody trying to leave the room.

Eijun looks up when he sees shoes approaching him, smiling when he notices who the pair of shoes belong to, ”Kazuya!” He jumps out of his seat happily. Miyuki smiles and holds his arms open, accepting the hug Eijun didn't hesitate to give him.

“Eijun!” He replies, applying the same excitement as Eijun had given him, ”Did any of these assholes mess with you?" He questioned.

Sawamura huffed out his answer with a slight pout, "No!” He whined, “You've marked your territory so hard they’re too scared to even say hello to me!”

“It’s not a good thing, Miyuki Kazuya!” His pout deepened when he saw the satisfied smile on his partner's face. “I’m going to be an outcast if nobody talks to me!”

“That just means that there’s nobody there to hurt you, why do you want people to talk to you anyways? You have me! I’m an amazing friend.”

“You’re as comforting as a dead slug.”

—----------------

“You guys have to come! Half the team is going to be there, it'll be too awesome to miss!” The begging had been going on for at least 10 minutes already, Jun was too persistent for his own good at times.`

“I don’t know, senpai, it just seems like a lot of people and we don’t do well with crowds..” Eijun replied for the fifth time, ”The team doesn’t really get along with us, anyway. Kazuya and I would just be intruding, it’s fine,”

“The guys told me to invite you two! The only reason they aren’t trying to drag you there tonight themselves is because they didn’t want you to kill them!” He persuaded.

“Didn’t want us to kill them?” Miyuki questioned, sitting up from where he was lying on his bunk.

Jun looked at him as if he was an idiot, like he was skipping over an important piece of data on a detective case. ”You guys are literal psychos?”

“If you’re talking about that time during practice, I keep telling you that it’s just a dagger! It’s not that serious!.” Jun pointed at Eijun as he said it.

“See!! That’s what I’m talking about!”

Miyuki groaned at the recurring argument, “If we agree to go tonight, will you leave?”

—---------------------------

“Yeah I’ve never been arrested, but I did steal a baseball from the store with my younger brother Haruichi once,” Ryousuke shared, making the boys in the slightly crowded room laugh, “He was always my little accomplice, he would follow me to hell if it meant he could follow in my footsteps. I kind of miss the guy.”

“I got caught scaring kids in the mall with Eijun once, we almost got sent to prison,” That elected another round of laughter.

“I’m surprised you guys have never been arrested, you’re like little menaces.” Kuramochi spoke, "It’s a good thing though. I'll tell you, jail is no fun."

"You've been to jail?" Asked Yuuki, who was sitting beside him. 

"Once.” He sighed convincingly, “In monopoly."
—--------------------

“Okay, first string! You’ve all read up on the Inashiro players, I trust. We need a plan.” Chris announced, "The plan can not include explosives, weapons, fighting, injuring, any serious manipulation, should I go on?" He eyed the first year battery, rubbing his temples as he emphasized; Almost like a routine.

"Fucking hell, what do you expect? unicorns and puppies?"

—-------------------

It was the 4th inning, Seidou was winning 1-0 to Inashiro. Much to everyone’s surprise, boss let the first years play.

Miyuki was the first batter of the inning, Inashiro was letting a first year pitch. No doubt because of the unfamiliar faces of Kazuya and Sawamura.

"You're quite confident for someone with this many fielders ready to tear you apart." Their catcher chuckled, trying to apply pressure. Miyuki could hear him shift behind his back. He’s going to call an inside pitch.

"Given the fact that you've probably trained said fielders, they don't seem like much of a threat." Kazuya snapped back, ”Inside pitches are my favorite, by the way.” The pitcher was about to throw when he said it, he could nearly hear the shock on the catcher's face.”

He heard another shift, saw the pitcher's eyes widen. The catcher moved so suddenly? Without warning his pitcher? The ball was still inside, the blond not having enough time to adjust to the sudden call. Miyuki swung his bat, hitting the ball to the fence. The fielders moved to the inside when Miyuki came to bat, but they began running across the field. They were too late. He had gotten to second base by the time the ball was at first.

—----------

He had met the blond first year after the game, finding out his name was Narumiya Mei.

“You’re a bit of a manipulator, huh? Masatoshi-senpai told me what happened on the field.”

“I like to think of myself as more of an outcome engineer, if anything.”

—------------

“You guys only got into one fight and a few arguments! And it was your first game! I’m proud of you.” Some of the team wiped a fake tear as Jun patted their heads and praised them for not even the bare minimum.

:”In our defense, though, one of their first years called me premature. He was lucky Tetsu-senpai made me leave my dagger in my room. I would have shown him not to mess with me because of something as stupid as age.”

Chapter Text

Miyuki sits down next to Eijun, dumping one of his bowls of rice into his friend's empty one, “Kazuya, it’s almost the end of the year, you should be able to eat your own rice!” The younger boy whisper-yelled, still picking up the bowl and eating the rice anyway.

Miyuki shrugs, eating his food as the chatter around him somehow gets louder, “Now that you bring it up, I just realized how late into the year it is.” He shifted in thought, “The year is basically over,”

“And to think I wasn’t actually supposed to be here until you were a third year..” Sawamura ponders aloud, “The new kids next year will be older than me, but I would be their upperclassman.”

“Ha! You’re underclassmen are going to be older than you!” Kazuya teased, lightly pushing Eijun. Sawamura stuck his tongue out at him, rolling his eyes at his friend.

Tetsu looks over at the pair from a few chairs down, ”Miyuki, did you dump your rice in his bowl?!” He asked, yelling over the noise, “Again?!” He added after a short moment.

“No sir?” Kazuya asked more than answered, unsure if he should lie or not.

—--------------

“Kazuya, you don’t have to threaten my classmates every time you walk into the classroom. You’re starting to concern the teachers.” Eijun huffed, trying not to let a laugh break free as his teacher eyed him from their desk. I need to be serious.

Miyuki shrugged, pushing up his glasses and reaching to grab Sawamura’s books from his hands, “That sounds like a really personal problem to me. Plus, they should be concerned. You abuse me.” Eijun let the older boy carry his things for him as they left the classroom, heading out to walk to their dorms. “Plus. What can they do? Call our parents?”

They both looked at each other for a few seconds before they started to laugh. Sawmura shoved him playfully, starting to walk again. “You’re an idiot.”

—--------------

“Nice pitch!” Kazuya throws the ball back to his partner, who gets ready to throw another one.

“Wait!” The catcher jogs over to Sawamura, looking at the ball in his hands, “I was thinking earlier-”

“For once.” The pitcher interrupts, trying not to laugh.

“How about you try a different grip, for variety?” He effectively ignores the comment, “Here, try this way first.” He adjusts the ball in Eijun’s hand.

20 minutes and multiple grips later, which Sawamura successfully threw amazing pitches using, Kazuya decided that he was glad his partner wasn’t on an enemy team; Or Seido would have their work cut out for them.

—-----------------

“I really don’t know why this is necessary, I already apologized for threatening that kid.” Kazuya folded his arms over his chest, taking a defensive stance as he got eyed by the judgemental looking woman across the room from him. “It was self defense, I would say.”

The lady looked down at the notes in her lap and slowly looked back up at him, “Self defense is when someone is protecting themselves. Not when they’re protecting others..” She looked down at the notes again, “Miyuki.”

“Eijun is myself, it counts!” He says, rolling his eyes.

She blinked, looked down, slowly raised her gaze and let it rest right in his eyes, “Do you feel that that is healthy, Miyuki?” She leaned forward to get a better view of his eyes behind his glasses, “Your attachment to him, I mean.”

He looked offended, almost shocked. “Yes, it’s healthy. Eijun is my favorite thing and I’m his. That’s how it's always been, that’s how it’ll always be.” He stood up, “I knew this was bullshit, I have some words for coach.”

“You’re wrong.”

He froze in place and turned to face her again, “That’s not how it’s always been, is it, Miyuki? There was a time before Eijun, wasn’t there?”

“Not much of a time, not worth mentioning, at least. That wasn’t life. This is life. Eijun is life. My life.” He walked out of the office, leaving the women to whatever thoughts and conclusions she had collected.

She sighed and ran a hand down her face, “What a complicated kid. If only my husband was that attached to me..”

—---------------------

Jun’s eyes looked between the pair, looking confused and slightly shocked, “You guys are in the same room.. And you’re not sitting next to each other, plotting something, cuddling, talking about baseball, reading or flirting? What the hell is happening?”

“Maybe we would be normal if Kazuya would stop being so annoying.” Sawamura muttered, flipping a page in his book as he pouted.

“Maybe everything would be normal if Eijun stopped breaking unspoken rules.” Kazuya shot back, folding his arms tighter.

“HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? THAT’S LITERALLY WHAT UNSPOKEN MEANS. YOU DIDN’T TELL ME.” Eijun blew up, making Jun feel guilty for pouring gasoline on a simmering flame.

“Maybe if you weren’t so oblivious you would’ve known that it was IMPLIED!” Miyuki yelled back, standing from his chair at his desk.

Jun texted Tetsu, telling him to get here ASAP, saying something was seriously wrong with the boys. Over the time they had been here, Jun and Tetsu were the only ones they showed interest in. Like their older brothers. Tetsu was there in no time, pulling Eijun out of the room even as he put up a fight.

—------------------------

“Okay, what the hell was that?” Jun asked Miyuki, after he had semi calmed down of course. “You guys have never fought before, like ever.”

He looked away, getting worked up again, “He was texting Narumiya Mei! Who was clearly flirting with him! And he hadn’t said anything about it!”

He was puzzled, “Wait, why is that a problem? I thought you guys were just friends?”

Kazuya looked back at him, “Yeah but it’s kind of implied that we’re gonna have an awesome love story, isn’t it? There’s literally so much build up.”

“Well, can’t fight the logic I guess,” He shrugged, “But he’s as dense as a brick, of course he isn’t going to notice Mei flirting with him.”

—-------------------

“Are you ready to talk about what that was about, Ei?” Tetsu asked after a while, watching the younger boy pace was getting overwhelming. Especially when he was ranting about Miyuki while wearing Miyuki’s hoodie. Kind of contradictory, if you ask me.

“Boy am I! He blew up at me for texting Narumiya and said he was flirting with me! Why would I care about that? It’s not like I’m going to go and date him! Especially since it’s kind of obvious I’m practically dating Kazuya! Plus, he was giving me pitching tips! Do you know how much that information is worth?! And I was getting it! For free!” He ranted, never once pausing to take a breath, what amazing lungs he has.

“That’s..a lot to unpack,” Tetsu sighed, “Although, I do agree with you. That information is worth a lot.”

“I know!”

They sat in silence for a bit as Eijun calmed down, “Can we go back now? I miss Kazuya.”

Jesus he never changes.

—--------

BONUS

Kazuya loved music. This was a known fact, he had an amazing taste in music and more often than not you would find our duo sharing a pair of headphones and listening to arctic monkeys.

Though, sometimes things got out of hand. Like the time they were jumping on the top bunk while blasting music and it fell over.

Or that time they blasted my chemical romance in Kuramochi's ear one Saturday morning.

So, long story short, Kazuya & Eijun + music = chaos

In this particular case, though, it resulted in injury. Not fatal or dramatic, thank god. Just a small cut across Miyuki’s right cheek, that was just short of his eye.

How did this happen, you may be asking yourself. Well, it started when one song started to play.

It was a duet and they had gotten the brilliant idea to act it out. Well, doing so while in an area with spikey plants and random sticks all over the place isn’t a smart idea.

That much was made clear when Kazuya tripped, fell, cut his face, got laughed at by Eijun, snitched on Eijun for laughing, screamed and got patched up while getting reprimanded for being stupid. Not in that particular order.

"It's blood, not nuclear waste. Chill out." He had declared when the team fussed over it, swatting away their hands when they tried to hug him or mess up his hair.

At least it made him look bad ass?

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FOUR
Second year came crashing in sooner than anybody had expected after their eventful summer. They made it to nationals and lost before the semi-finals, they got closer as a team and trained all summer.

Eijun and Miyuki had made their relationship official and they started the new semester on a good note.

—----------------------------------

"Timing is key.” Sawamura says, talking to the new first year pitchers before Kazuya interrupts him, “Says the one who’s always late!” He calls with his back turned toward Eijun and the first years.

Eijun glares as some of the pitchers laugh.

Miyuki turns as he feels heated eyes on him, "Why are you glaring at me?"

"I'm hoping you'll spontaneously combust."

—--------------------------------

“Tell me about your childhood, Sawamura.” The man sits with his legs crossed, notepad and pen in his lap as he eyes the boy in front of him.

Said boy shifts in his chair uncomfortably, clearly not wanting to be there. “Uh, well I lived with my parents and grandfather.” He let out a sigh as he continued, “My parents weren’t very..involved? And my grandfather was one to enforce old style….. Punishments.”

He didn't get emotional like one would when telling a story such as this, he seemed more upset that he had to be here then he did sad while talking about his trauma.

“And by punishments you mean..?” The answer lingered in the air, they both knew what he meant, so why was he even asking?

This seemed to upset the boy, as he stood up and approached the door, “You know what I mean.”

—----------------------------------

"The gods work in mysterious ways," Sawamura mutters, looking at the catcher getting his hand patched up.
"..He broke his pinky." Tetsu looked up at the pitcher, then glanced back down at the bloody hand.

"Oh, oops, that was me. My bad," He chuckles nervously, “Maybe I pitched a little too hard?”

“Oh, come on! It’s blood, not nuclear waste!” He defended when he saw the look some of the team gave him.

—-------------------------

They hadn’t met Furuya and Haruichi until they had been promoted to the first string, mostly because they hadn’t interacted with any of the first years.

Eijun had been glad to sport the number 1 on his back for the intense games they had approaching, Miyuki claiming the number 2. They were rapidly climbing the ranks, and faster than expected.

—------------------------

“..Wait. So you’re still supposed to be in middle school?” Haruichi asks for the third time, “But you’re a second year and the new ace..?” Furuya finishes the question for him.

“And you’re dating Seido’s best catcher, while simultaneously being a team favorite member? Despite the homicidal jokes? And you’re like the little brothers of the captain of the team..? And the coach specifically asked for you to join his team? And you were a first string player since you joined? This is too much.” Furuya ranted, not stopping to take a breath.

Sawamura and Miyuki let out a sigh, as if they had gone through this several times before,”Yeah, pretty much.”

—------------------------------------------

“How’d you get that?” Haruichi —now dubbed Harucchi— asked, pointing to the scar along the underside of Kazuya’s eye.

Eijun sighed and prepared himself for the inevitable bullshit story his boyfriend was going to make up. “Well, lets just say fighting wild animals blindfolded is a terrible id—”

“Don’t lie to our Kohai, Kazuya!” He cut him off, slapping the back of his head, “He got the scar by dancing around spiky plants like an idiot!”

“You were dancing too, I’m not the only one.” He rubbed the back of his head, avoiding another slap.

Haruicchi walked away.

—--------------------------------

Chapter Text

Practice games had been a distant memory to our duo, after the first few altercations, they had been banned.

Now, as they look at the field from the dugout, everyone cant help but think about how much they’ve grown.

—----------------------------------

Everything had been going fairly well to begin with, Eijun had only threatened a handful of people and it was the third inning —------ a noticeable improvement—------

Miyuki was up to bat, he couldn’t help but be disappointed with the pitcher. After working with Eijun for his entire career, he was used to ridiculous pitches; This was too easy.

That’s what he had thought, anyway, that the pitcher wasn’t anything special.

He was wrong, though. 

The pitcher still didn’t have a shocking pitch, but he did have horrendous control of the ball.

As soon as the ball touched his face, he knew the other team was in immediate danger.

He turned his head to the dugout, where his boyfriend was currently being restrained by the entire team —and he was winning the struggle?—--.

A sigh escaped past his lips when he sat up. The pitcher had ran his little heart out to make it over to him. He kept apologizing, not noticing the angry 5 foot nothing boy running over.

“It’s fine, but you should probably run?” He chuckled nervously, gesturing to the boy who was closing the gap between them far too quickly. Jesus, can that boy run. It’s probably the tires.

The boy turned his head to look behind him, confusion overlaying his features. By that time, though, he was being tackled to the ground by the smallest person on the field.

—------------------------------------------

“-And as soon as we agreed you would be ready for this!” Somebody on the team rambled, Sawamura canceled out the noise in favor of making sure his boyfriend was okay.

He had insisted Kazuya get checked out medically before the game resumed. After both teams and a very upset coach had pried him and his dagger off of the poor pitcher, of course.

“We make sure to triple check you before we leave the school!  Where did you even get the dagger! Look at the poor boy, he looks traumatized!”

Across the field, the pitcher sat, face unmoving. He hadn’t pitched for the rest of the game.

Miyuki was proud of his boyfriend.

—-----------------------------------------

"Well, this is a nice change in scenery." Eijun mumbled, looking around the small holding cell.

"It’s a prison cell." Miyuki sighed, rubbing his temples.

“Way to be optimistic,” Sawamura sighed, still looking around, “It could use some decor, though. Maybe some plants.”

"Lord, give me patience….” He paused for a second, “Or an untraceable handgun," His temples were red by the time they were released.

—---------------------------------------------

"In my defense, they were already hurt before I got there," The small boy defended, looking away from Chris’ passively aggressive look.

“You’re still supposed to be in middle school and you’ve been arrested, is that not concerning?”

“Are you saying middle schoolers can’t get arrested?” He asked, fake offended.

Chris sighed loudly, “That’s exactly what I'm saying!”

—------------------------------------------------

“I didn’t know you had that many bats!” Raichi exclaimed over the phone, he and Eijun had become friends during the summer.

“Wait til you see the knives,” Miyuki commented as he walked by, stopping to peck his boyfriend on his forehead before continuing to walk away.

“Ewwww, pda,” Haruicchi complained, holding Furuya’s hand as he too walked by.

They’re like walking affection, Sawamura thought idly. Wonder how big bro’s adjusting to the new addition to Harucchi’s hip.

—-------------------------------

Therapy was a terrible idea.

Therapists were a terrible idea. They were always thinking, always having thoughts that should simply stay thoughts. This particular one, however, managed to escape.

‘How about you see your family again, Sawamura-kun’

Chapter Text

Eijun kept his eyes clenched on the car ride there, he had a tight grip on Miyuki’s hand and he was trying his best to remember he had to breathe.

He had tried to decline, tried to refuse, tried to do anything to get out of this.

Just the thought of seeing those people –not family– again had his stomach twisting and contorting uncomfortably.

Kazuya was whispering in his ear, trying to calm him down, but it wasn't working very well.

There were very few moments where Miyuki couldn't comfort his boyfriend, this was one of those moments and it sucked.

He hated being there and not helping.

Sawamura barely processed anything as the car came to a stop, as he was led to the doorstep or as he was welcomed inside.

The house was the same as he remembered, but all the pictures of him were no longer lining the walls. Nobody would be able to tell that a child lived here not too long ago if they were just dropping by.

How long has it been? Eijun couldn’t remember.

They were led to the living room, the social worker, Kazuya and Eijun.

He quickly realized they were talking to him, the strangers across the table.

“---you been?” His mother had the audacity to look hesitant to speak to him, had the audacity to look guilty.

He didn’t answer, instead turning to look around the room. Just like when he walked in, his presence had been completely wiped from the room. No crayon drawings or childish accomplishments on the shelf in the room that had once been dedicated to him.

“Can I see my room?” He spoke quietly, finally looking up at the three people he had once depended on for love and care, “If I can even call it that anymore..”

They ignored his last comment and stood, leading them through the familiar path to the room Eijun had once occupied.

Wow, he thought as he walked in, so this is where it all went.

All the photos and memories had been stuffed into the small room, they hadn't even bothered to at least make it look organized. It was how he remembered it when you ignore the clutter. He stepped deeper into the room, becoming flooded with nostalgia as he looked around.

He felt Kazuya behind him, still holding his hand just as tight as before. It kept him grounded, and acted as an anchor to keep him from completely breaking down.

—----------------

They were in the dining room now, with Eijun’s favorite childhood meals lining every inch of the table. He was surprised they remembered.

“So, um, who’s this?” His mother asked, looking at Miyuki sitting pressed against Sawamura’s side.

“My boyfriend, I met him in the group home I was put into when I was, you know, snatched from home and not brought back.” He gave a pointed, eye contact heavy, glare to everyone at the table, besides who he came with.

The looks on their faces gave him the satisfaction he knew they would.

“Eijun, honey, we’re sorry. We’re so, so sorry. I swear we are.”

“Is that why you locked my entire existence in that bedroom? Why you took down all of my pictures and memories? Why you tried to forget me altogether?” He whispered the last part through tears he was trying to hold in.

Tears were streaming down her face as she tried to scramble and explain herself, “We’re sorry! We want you to come home, we do!”

“Well I don’t want to come ‘home’.” He stood from his seat, “And I don’t want to see you again. Any of you.”

—--------------------------------------------

“Do you think we can do this?” Haruichi asked nervously, eyeing Inashiro from across the diamond.

“It’ll take a miracle, but even then? Probably not.” Eijun answered, shrugging as he too looked at the other team, “Lighten up, though, we won last year and we’ll win again. Despite our slight disadvantage.”

“Plus, Mei totally has a thing for me. We’re gonna win this.”

The Seido Vs Inashiro rematch was as exhilarating as expected. This was the second year in a row that they were competing against each other in the finals. The audience was on edge, the players were on edge, the coaches were on the tips of their toes.

Seido’s pitcher relay was dangerous, even if Sawamura was pitching for most of the game. Him and Mei were neck and neck, but Mei had an advantage. He had been training way longer than Eijun and he had something to prove this year.

Despite that, though, Seido managed to pull through and win. Yet again

—------------------------------------------------

It came and went within the blink of an eye, second year.

Now, as they stand as third years in front of the new nervous first years, they can only think back to when it had been them on that side of the field.

Chapter Text

Hi everyone!

ive decided to finish this book off here. Ive been super busy and really just lost all motivation to write.

Ive always had a hard time committing to projects and this is just another case of that.

If anyone would like to continue to write this fic, youre more then welcome!

Thank you to the loyal readers of this fic, especially the ones who left ideas for me in the comments!!

I enjoyed the feedback and love I got from all of you, it was amazing. I remember uploading the first chapter, all nervous, thinking nobody would be interested enough to read it. Turns out I was so, so wrong.

The first night I got so much support and Im super grateful! Sorry, again.

if you have any questions for me, ask away!

Bye:))

[if i start another book in the future, be sure to yell at me and force me to finish lol]