Chapter Text
"Kuramochi, let me hide here for a little while."
The shortstop was in the middle of playing a video game, and he heard the door open. Masuko was out somewhere practising his swings with the other second-years as usual, so he hadn't expected Ryousuke of all people to be entering his room.
Pausing his game, he turned around to look at the panting second-year. Ryousuke had closed the door behind him, and was grinning widely. That only told Kuramochi that he wasn't up to any good as usual. In his hands, Kuramochi could see that he held a book that was mostly red, pink and white. He recognised it as one of those books that he had seen Jun reading in his spare time. Probably a shoujo manga.
"Ryou-san, isn't that-?"
Before he could finish the question, Ryousuke had darted towards the lower bunk bed and stuffed the book into the pillow (which was now vacant because the third-years had graduated, something Kuramochi still felt a little sad about). Certainly, Ryousuke's actions were a little weird, but then again...
Kuramochi laughed loudly when he glanced over at the calendar, where he recalled tearing off the 'March' piece just that morning. "You pranked Jun-san by stealing his shoujo manga? Hyahaha, Ryou-san, wouldn't it be better if you hid the whole collection instead?" Kuramochi noted the smirk on Ryousuke's face, and he laughed harder.
"Of course I did. That was the only volume I didn't manage to get the night before, so I had to do it when he was out batting with Tetsu. I think he saw me on the way out, but I don't think he suspected a thing yet. You know, he-"
"Dammit Ryousuke, I know it was you so-!"
Kuramochi could hear loud and angry yelling of the one and only Isashiki Jun through the walls of the dorm. Kuramochi guessed that he was coming towards this direction from the loud stomping. "Ryou-san, he's definitely going to find you in here," Kuramochi cackled. "Looks like you aren't going to get off so easily from Jun-san this-"
He was cut off by surprise when Ryousuke placed both hands onto his shoulders, hovering over him with a grin. He pushed him down onto the floor none-too-gently, and the pink-haired senior ended up kneeling over him, effectively pinning him to the ground. His smile had twisted into a devilish smirk, and Kuramochi couldn't help but gulp at the sight. "Of course, you're going to help me, Youichi," Ryousuke snickered, dragging out every syllable of his first name. Kuramochi definitely couldn't say no to Ryousuke, especially when he essentially was under his senior's mercy (not to mention that Ryousuke could really make your life a living hell when he wanted to). "That's what partners are for, right?"
The footsteps were right outside the door, and for a moment, it was silent.
Right as the door slammed open, Ryousuke had closed the distance between them. Kuramochi's mind went completely blank at the sensation of warmth on his lips. He vaguely registered the spluttering of Jun at the door, but Ryousuke definitely had most of his attention. Kuramochi felt the soft hair tickling his face, gentle and warm breaths that belonged to the pink-haired senior above him, his face that was really, really, really close... His heart was definitely beating against his ribcage like he had just run a marathon.
"Nope, nope, nope, nope..." Jun was muttering to himself as he left the room, closing the door behind him. Finding Ryousuke to lash out at for messing with his shoujo manga was one thing, and it was another to find him sucking faces with a junior in said junior's dorm room.
Ryousuke let up on the kiss at last. He rolled to lie on the floor beside Kuramochi, giggling to himself. Kuramochi was utterly breathless, and he glanced at the second baseman lying next to him. "Did you see the look on his face? That was infinitely better than the original prank I wanted to do!" Ryousuke laughed. His face was flushed from laughter (at least that was what Kuramochi thought), and Kuramochi decided it was a nice colour on him.
His laughter was definitely contagious, Kuramochi thought, finding himself laughing along with him. His heart was still beating wildly, though he didn't seem to mind. Ryousuke sat up, flicking Kuramochi's forehead. "Happy April Fool's Day, Kuramochi," he laughed, moving to rescue the shoujo manga from the pillow. "Hopefully, Jun might not look me in the eyes for days," Ryousuke snickered, moving towards the door. He waved the book over his shoulder, then left the room.
Kuramochi lay there on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. He still felt the loss of Ryousuke's warmth on him, and he wondered what this strange feeling in his chest was.