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Miyuki followed the petite third-year from the class next door as she led him behind the gymnasium. Her shoulders were tense and her steps were slightly uncoordinated. Miyuki knew what was about to happen, but he hadn’t had the heart to deny her request to meet after school.
When she stopped abruptly, he nearly collided with her and waited for the inevitable. She took a deep breath and turned around, pretty black hair flowing lazily in the breeze. He fleetingly thought that Kuramochi would tell him she was quite beautiful.
“Miyuki-kun,” she began, searching his eyes and bowing slightly. “I like you. Will you go out with me?”
Miyuki felt his stomach twist as he reached up to rub at the back of his neck and averted his gaze.
“I’m sorry,” he immediately answered. “I’m--ah--already with someone.” The words felt oddly sour on his tongue because they weren’t exactly right. But he wasn’t about to explain that to a girl he was rejecting. “I’m...dating Sawamura Eijun,” he told her, hoping that it would deter any further confessions.
She looked sad, but understanding as she nodded.
“I understand, thank you for being honest with me. Have a good day, Miyuki-kun.”
As she walked away, Miyuki felt another odd twist deep in his gut, because he had just lied, hadn’t he? Because he and Sawamura were not dating. Not in the most basic sense of the word, anyway. He hoped that it didn’t anger the pitcher.
After a moment, he shook his head and made his way to practice. The only thing he could do was be honest with Sawamura and hope for the best. Though, he really hoped that it turned out well.
“Sawamura!” He called, obnoxious tone falling just slightly flat as the pitcher looked over at him from the bullpen. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”
“Yes, Captain!” the pitcher shouted as he trotted over and followed Miyuki to a less populated area. “What’s up, Cap?”
“I...um, can we just--can we drop the baseball stuff for a second? It’s...more personal.”
“Oh, sure, Kazuya, what’s up?”
“I, well...someone confessed to me today,” Miyuki said softly, unsure where would be best to start. Sawamura tilted his head.
“Uh...okay? That must have been...awkward? Don’t people confess to you a lot?”
“That’s not what...listen,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I told her that...that I was dating you to reject her...and I didn’t know if that was okay with you.”
“Oh! I don’t care, Kazuya, you can tell them whatever you want,” Sawamura laughed, reaching out to squeeze Miyuki’s shoulder. The catcher still looked unsure.
“Are you sure, Eijun? Because I don’t want to make you uncomfortable about anything, especially our relationship.”
“Kazuya, calm down. I know that we’re not dating, and you know that we’re not dating. What does it matter what anyone else thinks? You’re my partner, and I like that. I don’t care as long as you like that too.”
“I do like that,” Miyuki mumbled, nodding sullenly. “Though, I think Kuramochi knows.”
“Oh, Kuramochi-senpai definitely knows, but the rest of the team still thinks we’re dating.”
“And you’re okay with that, too?”
“Kazuya, are you okay with that?” Sawamura finally asked, reaching out to hold both of the catcher’s shoulders and meet his eyes. “You’re my zucchini and I don’t care if people think we’re more or less than that. But does it bother you ?”
“Hold on, did you just...did you just really call me your zucchini?” Sawamura blinked.
“Obviously, were you listening at all Miyuki Kazuya?”
“Why would you…?”
“It’s a term I found for QPs! I think it’s cute.”
Miyuki shrugged, assenting to the fact that it may have been a little cute. “But does it? Bother you, I mean,” Sawamura asked again, tilting his head slightly and watching Miyuki’s face.
“I...I guess not,” Miyuki began, frowning at the ground for a moment before nodding to himself and smiling genuinely at Sawamura. The pitcher lit up, moving in to tug the catcher into a tight, back-breaking hug, sighing into his shoulder. Miyuki slipped his arms around Sawamura’s shoulders and sighed as well, taking in the comforting warmth gratefully.
“I’m really glad I found you, Miyuki Kazuya,” Sawamura murmured. Miyuki snorted, pulling away and pretending to be indifferent.
“Get back to practice, Sawamura. And stop being so sappy.”
Sawamura just grinned, squeezing Miyuki’s shoulder once more before bolting off to the bullpen once more in a whirlwind of sound and brightness.
--
Kuramochi was picking aimlessly at his lunch before he glanced up at Miyuki and tilted his mouth down slightly.
“Are you ever going to tell the rest of the team that you and Sawamura aren’t technically dating?” he asked. Miyuki pursed his lips and shrugged.
“I’m not sure. Sawamura doesn’t seem to have an issue with it, and I’d honestly rather avoid having to explain asexuality and aromanticism to everyone. I’ve dealt with enough flack for it as it is,” Miyuki muttered as he slumped down against his desk and stared across the room blankly.
“You don’t think they’ll really react that badly do you?”
“No, I don’t think they’ll beat me up, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Miyuki sighed. “It’s nothing about their characters or anything, Kuramochi. It’s just hard for people to wrap their heads around sometimes and I’m not sure I’m ready to risk that again. It was easy with you since you already knew about it.”
“I still don’t think it’ll be as bad as you think it’ll be.”
“Maybe not. But what about trying to explain queer-platonic relationships? That’s even more complicated. I don’t know, I just don’t want them to see me differently. A lot of them already don’t like me.”
Kuramochi rolled his eyes with a scoff.
“I think you’re projecting your own self-doubt on other people again. You’re not actually a bad person, you just like to pretend you are.”
“Shut up, Kuramochi,” Miyuki grumbled with absolutely no bite behind it whatsoever. The shortstop just laughed, digging back into his meal and knowing that he at least got the captain thinking about talking about his relationship.
--
Sawamura was reading a new manga on a rainy day off when the lock clicked on his door and he barely spared a glance up before going back to the riveting pages.
“Hey, Kazuya,” he murmured. “We should just make you your own key so you don’t have to keep stealing Kuramochi-senpai’s,” he said. When Miyuki didn’t answer, Sawamura lifted himself up slightly with a curious grunt before the catcher practically collapsed into his lap, face pressed against the pitcher’s lean stomach.
“It’s like now that they think we’re dating, they want to date me even more ,” was all the catcher gave as context before Sawamura smirked. One hand slipped down to pat consolingly at Miyuki’s head, fingers threading through thick locks.
“You got another confession, then?”
Miyuki grunted and nodded, dangerously close to a whine.
“I thought that saying we were dating would make them stop confessing, but it’s only gotten worse , Eijun! This is awful.”
“You know, most people would be flattered that so many people are interested in them.”
“Well they should confess to those people,” the catcher huffed grouchily. Sawamura let off a startled laugh as he pressed his face against Miyuki’s head, still cackling.
“Miyuki Kazuya you’re too funny when you’re grumpy,” he sighed, wiping a tear from his eye, much to the annoyance of the older teen on his chest.
“Why can’t you just comfort me and tell me I’m right?”
“Oh, please, Kazuya, your ego is big enough, don’t you think?” Sawamura asked, snarky grin lighting his face and Miyuki even couldn’t bring himself to even be offended. “Come on, then,” Sawamura murmured, lifting his arm and guiding the catcher into his side, resting his head atop the other teen’s.
Miyuki settled comfortably against Sawamura’s radiant heat, nuzzling into the comforting embrace and sighing, feeling his tension begin to melt away.
“Mmh, what are you reading?” the catcher asked on a breath as his eyes drooped and his body went limp.
“The newest chapter of my favorite manga series, Kanemaru let me borrow his copy once he finished it.”
“Are they together yet?”
“No! I know, it’s crazy, right? But Mori-san’s memory still hasn’t come back fully yet, so…” Miyuki zoned out as Sawamura explained the series to him again, in great detail.
When Kuramochi returned from the store, Miyuki was passed out in Sawamura’s embrace and the pitcher was silently sobbing beside him, manga clenched in his shaking hands.
“Oi, oi, what’s going on?” the shortstop whispered, leaning into the bottom bunk and peering at the manga. “Oh, does Mori-san still think they’re just friends?”
Sawamura just nodded, sniffling and trying his hardest to be quiet about it. “You didn’t even get him to take off his glasses before he fell asleep,” Kuramochi murmured as he leaned in to slip the catcher’s glasses off his face and roughly ruffle Sawamura’s already messy hair.
He set the thick frames on the desk and rolled his eyes at the two teens before preparing himself for bed and climbing into the top bunk. “You know,” Kuramochi began, settling onto his back and staring determinedly at the ceiling and drawing the pitcher’s attention to him. “I think you two should think about telling the team about your relationship.”
Sawamura hummed, fabric shuffling as he probably slipped himself and Miyuki under the covers.
“I understand where you’re coming from, Kuramochi-senpai, but I don’t really care what the team thinks our relationship is. Unless they ask either of us directly, I don’t really feel the need to correct their assumptions,” he said.
Kuramochi paused for a moment, realizing that Sawamura had grown up so much right before his eyes and he hardly even noticed. “Besides,” the pitcher continued, softly and almost fond. “I think the idea of facing other people with his sexuality still scares Miyuki a lot. He doesn’t really like to talk about it, but I can tell it gives him a lot of anxiety.”
“I guess you have a point. I just feel like I’m keeping a secret from them.”
“You can tell them that we aren’t dating, or that you don’t think we’re dating. I don’t care. I’m not sure they’ll believe you, but it’s not your job to keep secrets from your team members if you don’t want to,” Sawamura said. Kuramochi clenched his fists at his sides and turned over to glare into the bunk below his.
“I’m not just going to out you guys, Bakamura. That’s not cool.”
Sawamura smirked, arms securely wrapped around Miyuki’s shoulders.
“Well, then thanks for your support, Kuramochi-senpai,” he drawled. “But honestly, if someone on the team asked me if I was dating Miyuki, I wouldn’t lie. It’s not like we want it to be a secret, we just don’t want to go through the whole ace explanation if we don’t have to is all.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Kuramochi sighed, flopping back against his pillow and slipping his eyes closed. “Good night, Bakamura.”
“Night, Kuramochi-senpai.”
The two roommates drifted to sleep easily enough, dozing peacefully for hours before any noise broke the silence.
Miyuki whimpered in his sleep, squeezing his eyes tightly and shaking his head before reality crashed into him and he awoke with a start. His glasses and shoes had been discarded and Sawmura’s leg was tossed haphazardly over his thighs. His head was pillowed on the pitcher’s arm, but his body was still shaking and sweaty.
“Are you awake now?” Kuramochi’s voice whispered down to the catcher’s ears and he glanced up at the top bunk, swallowing thickly.
“Y-yeah. I’m awake now.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not right now, no. Thanks, though.”
“Sure,” the shortstop muttered. “Do you have them a lot?”
Miyuki mindlessly clenched and unclenched his hand in Sawamura’s shirt, trying to calm himself down and relax again.
“Not for a while. Eijun helped me a lot and I haven’t had one for a month or so.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to go back to sleep again?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. You can go back to sleep, Kuramochi.”
“Nah, I’ll stay up until you can sleep again. Just in case.”
Miyuki wanted to laugh at how caring the shortstop was despite his adamant denial of that fact.
Miyuki waited for about thirty minutes, checking in with Kuramochi every so often to say that he had not fallen asleep again yet. He was about to get up and pace for a bit when Sawamura groaned beside him and shifted, blinking his eyes open and quirking a brow at Miyuki’s open eyes.
“Kazuya?” he murmured. “Why are you awake? Did you have a nightmare?”
Miyuki just nodded, feeling his body go limp again as Sawamura ran a hand over his head and hugged him close. “‘Shoulda woken me up,” he said against Miyuki’s head. The catcher just shrugged.
“I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Well that’s stupid,” Sawamura told him, squeezing his leg tighter around Miyuki’s thighs and cuddling the other teen closer to his chest, breathing slowly and softly. “Can I do anything?”
“No, I...I think I can sleep again now,” Miyuki whispered against the pitcher’s strong chest, breath ghosting over his collarbones. Sawamura gave a somewhat pleased, somewhat incomprehensible grunt before he drifted off again. Miyuki sighed and closed his eyes again.
“Night, Mochi,” he said with a gentle smirk. Kuramochi snorted, eyes already closed and feeling his mind drift once again.
--
The final strike slammed into Miyuki’s mit, exhilaration pulsing through his body like a fire. The umpire behind him raised his fist.
“Strike three, batter out! Game set!”
The catcher jumped to his feet, a massive grin on his face because they were going to Nationals ! They had done it! He could see both Furuya and Nori in the dug out, icing their shoulders and grinning.
The deafening cheers broke out across the stadium and before Miyuki could even process what was happening, he had an armful of excited, wailing pitcher. Sawamura wrapped his legs around Miyuki’s waist and shouted about winning and how proud he was of Miyuki’s captaincy.
“Kazuya! We did it! We’re going to Koshien!” Sawamura called, squeezing his arms tighter around Miyuki’s shoulders as the catcher hugged him tighter around the waist.
“Those pitches were amazing, Eijun. I’m so proud of you,” Miyuki whispered against the second-year’s shoulder.
“My pitches ? Are you kidding ? That steal you shut down last inning was incredible , Kazuya! Your defense saved me this whole time!” Sawamura argued as he hopped down from the hug and gripped Miyuki’s shoulders, wide, radiant grin shining on his lips.
“No way, Eijun. That crossfire was probably the best one you’ve ever pitched,” the catcher countered. Sawamura pouted, following the rest of the players in lining up and bowing.
“Good game!” the teams shouted before dispersing. Zono and Kanemaru walked beside one another with frowns on their faces, watching Miyuki and Sawamura chat excitedly about the plays to one another.
“What’s with that face, Zono?” Kuramochi asked as he and Toujou approached the first and third basemen.
“I was thinking they would have kissed or something in their excitement just now, you know?” Zono asked. Kuramochi nearly choked on a laugh as Kanemaru nodded beside him.
“I mean, it’s not like they’ve been very subtle about their relationship, but I wouldn’t have thought that Bakamura had that much restraint.”
“But they just hugged ,” Zono muttered, continuing his last thought as if he never stopped speaking, seemingly trying to parse something out.
“Kyahaha!” Kuramochi busted out, gripping his sides. “You’re thinking too hard about this, Zono,” he cackled, casting a knowing smirk in the direction of his grinning roommate and captain. Maybe the team didn’t need to know just yet, so long as they were happy.