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The first time he saw them together in a vaguely intimate way several months ago, he instantly found their relationship cute. Mihashi being in a romantic relationship with Tajima didn’t really surprise anyone, but there was a minute of shock when it was revealed that Izumi was also involved. At the outset, there were questions as to whether or not this could affect the overall chemistry of the team. Over time, though, everyone came to realize just how important they were to each other.
Sakaeguchi had been one of the people who best appreciated their relationship from the very beginning. They were such a positive influence on their pitcher and showed him the kind of love he deserved to have. In his eyes, there was no reason for him to oppose it.
He wasn’t sure when exactly his heart and mind had separated on the subject, but there came a point when even being near them while they were together left him feeling as though someone had gutted him. He was a fairly practical guy, so it didn’t take him very long to realize what was happening. Somehow, he had managed to fall in love with Mihashi.
Acting on his feelings was not an option. Mihashi’s heart belonged to Tajima and Izumi. He knew that. He saw how happy Mihashi was when he was with them. Sakaeguchi would never forgive himself if he ruined what appeared to have been one of the best things to ever happen to Mihashi.
Even if he wasn’t the one Mihashi loved, he would do whatever he could to make him happy. This often seemed to come in the form of acting as sort of relationship counselor when something went wrong. The trio never went to anyone else when they were having problems. It was always Sakaeguchi.
The very first one of those incidents had been during their lunch period on a normal school day in late October. Having left something on one of the benches during morning practice, he went to retrieve it during lunch break. In order to get back to the main building quicker, he cut through the area with the detached buildings. The moment he discovered Mihashi sitting against one of the buildings’ walls alone and curled in on himself, Sakaeguchi knew that something was wrong.
“Mihashi?” He inquired hesitantly, his voice heavily laced with concern.
When the smaller boy lifted his head, the second baseman’s heart almost broke at the sight before him. His eyes were puffy, red, and wet as tears continued to slide down his cheeks, dripping off slowly and landing on his knees. He mumbled something, but Sakaeguchi was unable to make out what he was trying to say. Instead of asking Mihashi to repeat himself, he simply sat down next to his pitcher, ready to wait for him to settle down before asking him about what had happened.
Even though his heart was going crazy in his chest and his shoulder felt like it was on fire in the spot where it pressed against Mihashi’s, he waited patiently and silently. He listened to the sound of his friend’s laboured breathing and occasional sniffle, not saying anything until it had all stopped.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?”
It took a few moments for Mihashi to gather his thoughts before he managed to speak, albeit in a broken voice and a broken sentence.
“M-m-made Tajima-kun… Izumi-kun… angry…”
Sakaeguchi found that rather… inconceivable. Tajima never seemed like he was capable of getting angry at Mihashi, and Izumi had an unbelievable amount of patience when it came to him. He had to have done something exceptionally bad for them to get to such a point.
However, it became clear once the pitcher explained what happened. He could understand why they were upset with him and felt a bit agitated himself once he fully learned what Mihashi had done.
“Aren’t they upset because you put yourself in danger?”
At Mihashi’s blank, confused stare, Sakaeguchi continued to speak, adjusting himself so that he was facing Mihashi with his entire body while explaining exactly what he had done wrong.
“If things had gone badly, you could have really gotten hurt, Mihashi. They’re upset because they care about you and don’t want to see you hurt.” Neither do I.
Terrified realization dawned on the pitcher’s face, and he quickly leaned forward until his face was only a few inches from Sakaeguchi’s. The second baseman’s heart skipped a beat, and he ended up falling backward in shock.
“Sakaeguchi-kun…! Thank you!”
“Y-yeah…”
The second baseman could only watch as the other boy hastily got to his feet and ran off in the direction of the main building. Sakaeguchi was left on his back, bewildered by what had just occurred. He turned onto his side and curled forward, clutching at the front of his t-shirt right above his chest. He knew that he had sealed his fate.
He loved Mihashi, and because of that, he would do whatever he needed to in order to keep him happy, even push aside his own feelings.