Archive of Our Own

1.

“Miyuki Kazuya, you’re so slow!” Sawamura leaned against one of the pillars outside Seishin Dorm, the toe of his shoe having already crushed several clumps of dirt on the ground. “You’re the one who asked me to come, and you’re still late!”

Great. His confession plan hadn’t even started yet, and he was already fourteen minutes late.

Miyuki felt a little restless as he strode toward the entrance, pulling a neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket along the way.

“Coach stopped me just now. We talked for a bit longer than I expected. Here, wipe off your sweat first.”

“Was it about scouts?”

Sawamura took the handkerchief without the slightest hesitation and wiped it over his face, chin, and neck. When he saw Miyuki give a small nod, his movements paused. Then he stuffed the now-crumpled handkerchief straight into his own pocket.

“Next time, message me on LINE first! I stood out here roasting in the sun for more than ten minutes for nothing!”

“Uh, that handkerchief is mine...”

“I’ll wash it and give it back, cheapskate!” Sawamura pulled out his phone to check the time, then immediately started hurrying toward the other side of campus. “Come on, let’s go learn how to ride a bike! The great Sawamura’s free time is extremely valuable!”

“Wait.”

Something tightened around his wrist. Sawamura was tugged to a stop and turned back to look at him.

“Let’s stop by the convenience store first. I’ll buy you some ice cream.” Miyuki sounded no different from usual.

“Hmm... Fine. Then I want two!”

“Only one.”

Sawamura turned his back on him again. “Hmph... A senpai shows up late and wants to apologize to his most beloved kouhai, yet all he offers is one measly ice cream...”

Miyuki sighed and pretended to admit defeat. “One. But you can pick an expensive one.”

“The most expensive one... the most expensive...” Sawamura muttered as he obediently turned toward the convenience store by the school gates.

Miyuki hurried to follow, loosening his fingers slightly around Sawamura’s wrist. If Sawamura wanted to pull away, he could do it at any time.

The blazing sun hung high overhead.

Sawamura deliberately kept to the narrow strips of shade cast by walls and buildings, practically bouncing along as he walked. More than once, even Miyuki felt that having their wrists connected like this was inconvenient, but Sawamura never tried to break free. He simply stayed obediently within Miyuki’s grasp.

They hadn’t gone far before sweat began to bead on both their skin, especially where their wrists touched.

Hot. Damp.

But Miyuki could feel Sawamura’s pulse there. Sawamura’s presence.

He hadn’t pulled away.

Miyuki lowered his eyes and once again ran through the plan in his mind.

Today was his last chance.

Starting tomorrow, Sawamura would return fully to the team, practicing with Okumura, learning to work with the new lineup, and continuing to move forward.

Miyuki’s own high school baseball career was already over.

No matter what happened, he had to succeed today.

Miyuki stared somewhat blankly at the back of Sawamura’s head, his fingers tightening without him realizing it.

Then, almost before he noticed, his hand was suddenly empty, and a rush of cool air hit his face.

Miyuki slowly curled his hand into a fist, then quickly relaxed it again. After resetting his expression, he stepped into the convenience store.

“...You’re not picking something expensive?” he asked uncertainly when Sawamura handed him an orange soda ice pop.

“This one’s the easiest to eat! I can have it while we walk to the bike shed.”

There was nothing unusual at all in Sawamura’s smiling face. Miyuki refused to give up. “You know, it’s pretty rare for me to offer to buy you ice cream.”

“Just pay already~ Ice cream isn’t supposed to be the main event today, right?”

“Wow, look at you being all mature, Sawamura~” Miyuki still had the nagging sense that something was off, though he couldn’t put his finger on what. So he could only act as though he’d gotten lucky, walk over to the counter, and pull his wallet from his pocket.

They hadn’t spent long in the air-conditioned store before stepping back out into the height of summer.

This time, though, Sawamura held the ice pop in his left hand, eating it with obvious enjoyment, while his right held the tissue the clerk had given him, occasionally dabbing away the sweat running down his temples. “This one’s really good! If you see it next time, you have to buy it!”

“Sure, sure~”

His right hand ought to be holding something.

Miyuki loosely curled it into a fist, then slipped it into his pocket for the third time, feeling around for the bicycle key with the little record-shaped charm attached to it.

By the time they reached the bike shed, Sawamura had just finished his orange soda ice pop. While Sawamura went off to find a trash can, Miyuki, who had prepared in advance, unlocked a black bicycle, shoved the key into the deepest part of his pocket, and wheeled the bike onto the main path.

“Ooh! This bike really suits you! Did you just buy it?”

“Nope. It’s Shirasu’s.” Miyuki handed the handlebars over to Sawamura. “Try it out. See if anything feels wrong.”

Sawamura squeezed the brakes, rang the bell, checked the kickstand, then walked it forward a few steps before saying, “It’s in great shape! Where are we going to practice? There aren’t many people on campus because it’s summer break, but...”

He looked up at the cloudless blue sky, wiping his chin with the back of his hand and leaving behind a thin sheen of sweat.

“I know an open area nearby with plenty of tree cover. We can go there. But...” Miyuki looked at the bicycle, then at Sawamura pushing it, his tone perfectly casual. “It takes twenty minutes to walk there, but apparently only ten by bike. Too bad we only have one bicycle.”

“Cap can’t ride yet, so of course I’m the one who has to ride!”

Sawamura excitedly swung one leg over the bicycle, only to abruptly realize something as he pushed off.

“Bastard four-eyes, you’re the only one who knows the way!”

His eyebrows drew together slightly as he looked at Miyuki with suspicion.

“Well, I have a suggestion.” Miyuki pushed up his glasses and lightly sat down on the rear rack.

“There. Problem solved. Let’s go~”

Sawamura froze. He couldn’t think of a better solution, though, so in the end he simply tightened his grip on the handlebars and started pedaling hard.

“I’ve never carried anyone on a bike before, so hold on tight...”

A pair of hands obediently caught the hem of his T-shirt.

“When we go uphill, you have to get off and push me!”

“Sure, sure, Sawamura-sensei.”

“Sensei?!” The handlebars swerved violently from side to side as the person riding tried to turn around.

“Right turn ahead—” Miyuki tugged on Sawamura’s shirt. Once Sawamura’s attention returned to the road, he added, “Whether I learn how to ride today depends entirely on you, after all, Sawamura-sensei~”

“......Hmph.”

“Sawamura-sensei, left turn~”

“......”

Ah. His ears were red.

“On the way back, let’s switch places, Sawamura.”

Miyuki felt slightly nervous.

He had already rehearsed several possible answers in his head, but there was no telling whether the real Sawamura’s response would fall outside all of them.

“...Are you seriously going to be okay? I’m kind of scared.”

“You should have more faith in your own teaching ability, Sawamura. I trust you quite a lot in that department. Why else would I ask you, and only you, to come teach me?”

Ah. Too direct.

Miyuki’s fingers tightened unconsciously around the hem of Sawamura’s shirt, leaving faint wrinkles in the cotton.

“Oh... right. Fine! Then you’d better prepare yourself! I, Sawamura, will teach you with two hundred percent of my power!”

...He didn’t pick up on it at all.

Strange.

Miyuki knew he ought to feel relieved.

————

“Don’t worry about riding, Cap! Leave everything behind you to me!”

Miyuki kept his left foot planted on the ground, repeatedly turning his head to look at Sawamura’s hands gripping the back of the bicycle. For a long moment, he couldn’t bring himself to start.

“I absolutely, definitely won’t let go!” Sawamura promised loudly, reaching one hand past Miyuki’s shoulder to point ahead. “Let’s just get to that tree first! It’s really close! If you start veering off or look like you’re going to fall, I’ll definitely straighten the bike for you!”

“Haaah... Sawamura, I overlooked something. You’re one of our precious pitchers. Whatever happens, don’t hurt your left hand.”

Miyuki turned back to look at him yet again. “If I’m about to fall, don’t try to be tough. Don’t hurt yourself. Get out of the way—”

“How could I just leave you on your own?!”

“Well, maybe I’m a genius and won’t fall even once?”

The moment he finished saying it, Miyuki took a deep breath, tightened his grip on the handlebars, and tentatively pushed off.

Seeing this, Sawamura quickly withdrew his hand and began running forward while holding the rear rack.

“That’s good! Keep going!” He watched the ground beneath his feet while loudly encouraging Miyuki-senpai.

The route was crooked and unsteady, but they still reached the destination without incident.

Miyuki really didn’t fall even once.

“Again! This time, go to that tree!”

Before Miyuki could even breathe a sigh of relief, Sawamura assigned him a new task.

“Cap has pretty good instincts for cycling! I bet you’ll learn in no time! You’ve got to keep practicing while you still have the feel for it!”

For the next long half hour, Sawamura repeatedly ordered Miyuki to ride back and forth between several trees. At first, Miyuki barely even had time to put his left foot down before he was sent off again.

It was only when the message alert on Miyuki’s newly replaced phone began going off over and over that Sawamura-sensei finally granted him permission to pause training.

“Huh? You already have this many things scheduled?”

Sawamura leaned over to look at Miyuki’s screen. The smartphone had only been bought the day before, yet the calendar was already crowded with appointments: interviews with familiar and unfamiliar magazines, and even more meetings and expressions of interest from well-known professional teams. The number was visibly growing as more messages came in.

“Once you go pro, don’t see some amazing new pitcher and forget about Seidou!” Sawamura moved his gaze from the densely packed calendar to the time in the top-right corner of the screen.

“What exactly do you take me for? Well, I’m sure next year there’ll be just as many scouts chasing after you, Ace-sama~”

“I’m going to university and forming a battery with Chris-senpai! Pro baseball is still ages away!” Sawamura’s voice rose again, almost as if he were being contrary.

But Miyuki’s attention wasn’t on his volume.

“? You’ve already decided?”

The news caught Miyuki completely off guard. Even his fingers, which had been typing a reply on his phone, stopped moving.

Sawamura didn’t answer right away. After a two-second pause, he suddenly announced, “All right, all right, break time is over! Back to practice!”

“Again! You can do it, Cap!”

This time, Sawamura’s voice grew farther and farther away.

Miyuki couldn’t hear footsteps running behind him.

Nor was there any additional weight on the rear rack.

The corner of Miyuki’s mouth lifted. He smoothly rode to the designated spot and stopped, bending forward to pant heavily just as he had the previous few times.

Hidden beneath the sound of his rapid heartbeat and breathing were deliberately softened footsteps.

Someone pounced onto his back from behind, a loud voice exploding right next to his ear.

“Hmph! Cap’s athletic ability is barely acceptable, but you’ve still got a long way to go! Sawamura Coach will have to give you more guidance next time!”

“Sawamura-sensei is so loud—”

“Ahahahahaha! Since Cap already knows how to ride a bike now, let’s hurry back to Seidou!”

“Huh? I wanted to practice a little longer. Does Sawamura-sensei have something urgent to do?”

The person leaning against his back abruptly went quiet, then slowly straightened and stepped away.

“...Sawamura, do you not want to spend time with me?”

Miyuki waited several seconds.

Still no answer.

His hands tightened around the handlebars, then tightened again. Slowly, he turned to look at Sawamura.

Brown bangs slightly damp with sweat. Beneath them, golden-brown eyes that seemed a little dimmer than usual, lashes lowered calmly.

“Miyuki-senpai has been really busy lately, right? You have to visit all those pro teams, do all kinds of interviews, and there’s still so much handover stuff you have to take care of...”

Sawamura’s voice was very quiet, almost as though he were speaking to himself. Miyuki had to lean awkwardly to the side and closer just to make out the words.

“With vacation time this precious, you should have more important things to do...” Sawamura instinctively checked the time on his phone. Then he stepped back once, then again, his eyes snapping back into focus. “That’s it! Cap already learned how to ride, so Sawamura-sensei’s mission is officially complete! I’ll head back first, then! Ahahahahaha!”

“Wait. That’s not it.”

Miyuki hurriedly swung off the bicycle, lowered the kickstand, and reached out to catch Sawamura, who had already turned to leave.

His hand closed on empty air.

No.

Sawamura had dodged him.

“Sawamura, I...” Miyuki swallowed, his voice trembling slightly. “I didn’t ask you out today just because I wanted you to teach me how to ride a bike.”

Sawamura stopped walking, but still didn’t turn around.

Miyuki’s throat suddenly tightened.

All the words he had prepared in advance vanished completely from his mind.

“There’s something really important I wanted to tell you. I—”

“So... learning to ride was just an excuse? Then why didn’t you tell me before asking me out? Why did you hide it from me?” Sawamura’s voice had taken on a faint sob, cutting Miyuki off before he could finish.

“Miyuki Kazuya, you big liar!”

The moment he shouted it, Sawamura ran straight out of the clearing without once looking back.

“Sawamura! Wai—cough... cough...” Miyuki had barely taken a few steps before something caught in his throat, leaving him standing in place coughing for quite a while.

By the time he finally suppressed the irritation in his throat and looked up again, Sawamura had vanished.

Miyuki cursed under his breath, jumped onto the bicycle, and chased after him in the direction he had gone, riding with a level of ease that made it impossible to believe he had supposedly only just learned how.

Not this one.

Not this one either.

That idiot—what if he gets lost?!

Miyuki retraced the route all the way back to Seidou, but never found the person he was looking for.

Pink-purple evening clouds spread across the sky, layered with drifting orange-red and gold, while the soft setting sun sank in the west.

This was supposed to be the time when he rode past the shrine with Sawamura sitting behind him.

Then he would stop by the roadside and confess.

The shrine behind them, the evening sky reflected across the river in front of them, light glittering on the surface of the water.

But where was Sawamura now?

Miyuki stopped the bicycle outside Seishin Dorm, hurriedly locked it, then headed straight for Room 5.

“Miyuki? What are you doing here? Where’s Sawamura?” Kuramochi happened to be opening the door and nearly walked straight into him.

“Sawamura hasn’t come back?”

“You’re the one who asked him out, weren’t you? Have you called him?”

“......His number is still on my old phone. I haven’t transferred it over yet.”

“Tch. I’ll call.”

Kuramochi operated his phone one-handed for a few seconds, then quickly raised it to his ear. “Hey, Bakamura. Where are you right now?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Stay where you are. I’ll have Miyuki come pick you up... You don’t want him, you want me?”

Kuramochi gave Miyuki a suspicious look, but eventually agreed.

“I don’t know what happened between you two, but Bakamura sounds off. Think carefully about what you did.” His sharp eyes spotted Shirasu approaching from the direction of the cafeteria, and he immediately called out, “Shirasu! Lend me your bike. I need to go pick someone up!”

“Sure. Miyuki has the key.”

“The key?” Kuramochi held out his right hand, palm up, in front of Miyuki.

Miyuki didn’t hesitate for long. He pulled the key with the little record charm from his pocket and placed it in Kuramochi’s hand.

“...The bike is outside Seishin Dorm.”

Even after Kuramochi had completely disappeared from sight on the bicycle, Miyuki still hadn’t processed what had happened.

Everything had been fine at first.

How had Sawamura’s mood suddenly taken such a sharp turn?

Was it because the plan itself had been underhanded...?

Today had been his last chance.

And he had ruined it.

In a daze, Miyuki didn’t even wash up. Still wearing the same clothes, he collapsed onto his bed and stared blankly at the familiar ceiling.

Today had been his last chance.

Miyuki Kazuya closed his eyes.

2.

Miyuki Kazuya opened his eyes.

Everything in front of him was dark.

He took off his sleep mask with practiced ease, yawning as he felt around the bedside for his glasses.

He’d upset Sawamura yesterday. Maybe today he should go catch for him on his own initiative...

Ah. Right. He’d already retired from the team.

Miyuki paused halfway through getting out of bed. A few seconds later, he finally slipped on his slippers.

If he didn’t want to interfere with normal practice, when should he go find Sawamura? Lunch break? Tonight?

He should check whether he was free around noon and in the evening first.

Miyuki set down his toiletries, turned back toward the bed, and opened his phone.

[Tuesday, August 25 — Sunny — 28/37°C]

[Schedule: Teach Sawamura how to ride a bicycle this afternoon]

His pupils widened instantly. In an instant, he was completely awake.

At the foot of his bed lay the athletic outfit he had deliberately coordinated in advance. His wallet and handkerchief were already in the pockets, along with that key with the little record-shaped charm.

Had everything that happened before... been a dream?

Could a dream really feel that real?

Miyuki instinctively tightened his grip on his phone, opened LINE, and selected the contact saved as Sawamura Eijun.

The chat contained nothing but the system notification confirming that they had successfully added each other as friends.

Miyuki brought up the keyboard, but for a moment, he had no idea what to type.

For some reason, he kept seeing Sawamura’s back from the dream as he ran away, no matter how hard Miyuki chased after him.

As though it had really happened.

Even now, Miyuki could repeat Sawamura’s tearful shouts word for word.

“Why didn’t you tell me before asking me out? Why did you hide it from me?”

...Was that the problem?

In the dream, Sawamura had kept checking the time. And the moment Miyuki learned how to ride, he had immediately suggested going back to Seidou.

Was it because Miyuki had used a fake reason to take up one of Sawamura’s rare days off?

If that was it...

Miyuki closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then carefully sent his first-ever LINE message to Sawamura.

[Sawamura, I checked the weather forecast. It’s really hot this afternoon, so outdoor activities probably aren’t a good idea. I need to buy a few outfits for some upcoming team meetings anyway, but I’m not very good at choosing clothes. Come with me.]

The [Unread] beneath the message quickly changed to [Read].

A second later, a new reply appeared on-screen.

[No problem! I, Sawamura, will absolutely be an excellent advisor!!]

It felt as though a huge weight had suddenly been lifted from Miyuki’s chest. Even the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

[Three o’clock, then? Wait in your room. I’ll come get you when I’m ready.]

A sticker of a Shiba Inu making an OK sign appeared.

Miyuki set down his phone and picked up his toiletries again. Just before leaving, though, he returned to the foot of the bed and took the key with the record charm out of his pocket.

When he returned the key to Shirasu later, he could ask him where a good place to buy clothes was.

————

[Sawamura, Coach needs to talk to me about something. I might be a little late. I’ll come to Room 5 when I’m done.]

[No rush, no rush! Cap should take care of business first!]

[We’re finished. I should be there in about two minutes, so you can start getting ready.]

[Shiba Inu · OK.jpg]

————

The moment they stepped out of the station and Sawamura saw the dazzling assortment of shops lining the commercial district, his eyes practically went wide.

He pulled a neatly folded sheet of paper from his bag and, mimicking an interviewer’s tone with exaggerated seriousness, asked, “Does Cap have a budget today? How many outfits exactly are we buying? What seasons are they supposed to be for?”

“Hmm... Nothing too expensive. Best value for money would be good. Two or three outfits, maybe, though if we find anything else suitable I can buy that too. Mainly spring and autumn, I guess. If something can work as a winter layer too, even better~”

“Mm-hm, understood!” Sawamura scribbled across the paper for a moment, then reached a conclusion. “If we’re talking clothes for team meetings, you definitely need at least one full suit. Let’s look at those first!”

“Okay~ I’m counting on you~~ Watch out!”

Even though it was a weekday afternoon, there were still plenty of people on the street. While Sawamura was busy folding the paper and putting it back into his bag, someone nearly collided with him.

Without thinking, Miyuki grabbed Sawamura by the wrist and pulled him toward himself.

“There are too many people here. Let’s walk like this for now.”

“...Mm.”

Sawamura’s voice was so faint it was almost swallowed by the noise of the crowd.

Bright sunlight spilled over them. Before sweat could even begin to bead on their skin, Miyuki pulled Sawamura into a shopping mall.

The comfortable air-conditioning dispelled the summer heat almost instantly.

“Cap, wait here! I’ll go see where they sell suits!”

Sawamura naturally slipped his wrist out of Miyuki’s grasp and bounced over to the floor directory to study it carefully.

“Fifth floor has tailored suits and ready-to-wear... Ah, we should look at dress shoes too, so that means B1...”

Sawamura muttered what sounded like brand names under his breath, then jogged back over and began pushing Miyuki toward the elevator. “Fifth floor first! Let’s get Cap a suit!”

Once they were squeezed into the glass elevator, the distance between everyone shrank rapidly. People got on and off at every floor, and little by little, Miyuki and Sawamura—who were headed for the fifth—were pressed all the way to the back.

“Whoa, so many people got on from the seventh floor!” Sawamura looked out across the open atrium, both hands braced against the glass wall in front of him. “Good thing the fifth floor doesn’t look too crowded.”

Miyuki stood behind him, one hand planted against the wall on Sawamura’s left as he carefully kept his balance without leaning his weight onto him.

“Next floor. Get ready to get out.”

Sawamura nodded and awkwardly turned around, his crossbody bag inevitably brushing against Miyuki.

The instant he felt the contact, Miyuki lowered his eyes and turned toward the elevator doors behind him at the same time. He withdrew his left hand from the wall and reached down, accurately catching Sawamura’s right hand.

It was only a few steps from the elevator to the clothing store, yet Miyuki remained tense the entire way, all his attention fixed on the hand holding Sawamura’s.

Good.

He didn’t refuse.

Today was his last chance.

“Whoa—” Sawamura easily slipped free and headed straight for the rows of suits in every color.

With quick eyes and quicker hands, he selected one light-brown suit and one dark gray suit, draped them over his arm, then pulled out a simple white shirt and dumped the whole pile into Miyuki’s hands. “I picked the size for someone around one-eighty. The fitting rooms are over there. Go try them on!”

“Why these colors? I feel like green or burgundy would work on me too.”

“Cap should listen to me first and obediently try these on!” Sawamura, unusually stern, put on his best serious-teacher expression.

“Sure, sure, Sawamura-sensei~”

Miyuki pulled the curtain shut just before Sawamura could start yelling, smiling as he hung the suits up inside.

“Miyuki Kazuya, you’re so sloooow—” Sawamura once again drew out his voice from outside the fitting room.

Fortunately, they were currently the only customers in the shop. The owner was a kindly looking elderly man who, at some point, had sat down beside Sawamura to wait with him.

The moment Miyuki opened the curtain, he immediately noticed Sawamura’s eyes brighten.

He pretended not to see it and calmly walked over to the mirror beside him to examine himself.

“Light brown doesn’t really seem to suit me.”

“Mm, yeah. It does look a little strange...”

The shopkeeper smiled at the two young men who had reached the same conclusion and offered a suggestion. “Why don’t you try taking off your glasses?”

Miyuki obediently removed them and turned toward Sawamura and the shopkeeper. Because of his nearsightedness, everything in front of him immediately blurred. He couldn’t make out the details of Sawamura’s expression; all he could see clearly was the bright golden-brown of his eyes.

“...The cut itself is pretty good, so let’s keep it as an option. Cap, try the next one,” Sawamura decided, then reached over and took Miyuki’s glasses. “I’ll hold onto these for now!”

When Miyuki came out in the dark gray suit, Sawamura fell silent for even longer. His mouth opened, but no words came out. He simply handed Miyuki his black-framed glasses and said quietly, “This really makes you look like a pro player.”

Once his glasses were back on, Miyuki Kazuya did not miss the faint blush across Sawamura’s face.

He turned to look at himself in the mirror and nodded with satisfaction. “Maybe I should just get this one.”

The shopkeeper matched it with a pale blue shirt and a blue plaid tie, and at Sawamura’s forceful insistence, Miyuki was once again driven back into the fitting room.

When he opened the curtain this time, Sawamura had somehow gotten to his feet and was standing there watching him quietly.

“What’s wrong? Does the tie look weird?”

Sawamura immediately returned to his usual energetic self and loudly declared, “No! You look really handsome, Cap! You totally look like someone who’s about to go pro!”

The corners of Miyuki’s mouth curved upward before he could stop them. He cleared his throat, nodded politely to the shopkeeper, then walked straight over to a display of burgundy suits on the other side.

“What about this one?”

“It looks good, but I think it’d be too flashy for meetings with pro teams. Doesn’t really fit Cap’s style.” Sawamura nodded decisively.

“I think the dark gray one you’re wearing now suits you really well! Whether you wear the full suit to meetings or break it up into casual pieces later, it’ll work really well for the future you!”

Sawamura gave Miyuki a thumbs-up, his gaze full of absolute conviction.

Still unwilling to give up, Miyuki wandered over to the ties and held a burgundy-striped one and a brown-spotted one against his chest. “I think these two are pretty nice too?”

“No, no, no. Those colors make you look old! The blue plaid one you’re wearing now is perfect!”

“Then I’ll listen to Sawamura-sensei and get this set.”

Regretfully, Miyuki put both ties back. After changing into his own clothes, he carried the suit to the counter.

The moment he saw the amount on the register display, his movements froze. He pulled most of the bills from his wallet and handed them over.

Were suits always this expensive?

The next stop he had originally planned was no longer possible.

Miyuki had no choice but to improvise.

“Um, Sawamura.” Carrying the shopping bag, he let his gaze drift toward the floor. “I’m kind of out of budget. Looks like this is all I can buy today.”

“Oh, that’s fine! As long as we found clothes that suit Cap! So, since we’re done shopping, should we head back to Seidou now?”

Sawamura was the first to leave the shop. His gaze visibly paused when it landed on the sign for a dessert café not far away.

“Want some?” Miyuki narrowed his eyes at the parfait prices and silently calculated how much money remained in his wallet.

Sawamura opened his mouth, but the moment he glanced at the shopping bag, he seemed to come back to himself. “No, no! We’re done buying clothes anyway! Let’s go back! I’ll look up the walking route!”

“I heard there’s a really good ramen place nearby. Want to eat before we head back? Consider it payment for all your hard work. My treat.”

Sawamura looked down at his phone, but his finger didn’t move across the screen at all.

Only after the phone dimmed and locked itself did he reply, as though he had only just heard Miyuki. “It’ll definitely be crowded now, and ramen around here is probably expensive.”

“Whoa, the sunset’s really pretty today.” Sawamura put his phone away and looked out through the glass curtain wall. “I can’t believe it’s already this late. If we go back now, maybe we can still make it to the cafeteria for dinner. Come on, let’s hurry!”

Having made the decision entirely on his own, Sawamura immediately strode toward the mall exit.

“Wait. Do you have something else planned later?” Miyuki jogged after him.

For some reason, the sight of Sawamura’s back running away in the dream slowly overlapped with the figure in front of him.

Miyuki’s heart gave a painful thud.

Sawamura gently shook his head.

“Are you feeling sick?”

Sawamura shook his head again.

“Then why are you in such a hurry to go back?” Miyuki’s voice tightened slightly.

Sawamura gripped the strap of his crossbody bag but remained silent.

Miyuki had just started slowly moving around to stand in front of him when Sawamura finally smiled and said, “Don’t you have an interview tomorrow? You should probably head back early and get ready!”

“What does my interview tomorrow have to do with you needing to leave right now?”

The words slipped out before Miyuki could stop them.

He immediately sensed the atmosphere freeze, but it was already too late to take them back.

“Yeah. Yeah, what does it have to do with me...” The curve of Sawamura’s smile grew more pronounced. “Miyuki-senpai’s interview tomorrow, or whatever happens to you after that... none of it has anything to do with me in the first place, right? Yeah... So Cap should hurry back and get ready! I won’t keep bothering you!”

Sawamura tightened his grip on the shoulder strap and broke into a jog, raising his left hand to wave behind him a few times in farewell. Then he plunged straight into the increasingly crowded stream of people and quickly vanished from sight.

Miyuki was left alone with the shopping bag in his hand, stumbling through the crowd.

The sunset at the edge of the sky grew more brilliant by the minute, reflecting beautifully against the lights coming on along both sides of the street.

But Miyuki had no interest in stopping to admire it.

Behind his lenses, his gaze moved frantically through the sea of people, searching for one fluffy brown head.

Only after a long while did he finally snap back to himself. He squeezed his way into the depths of a narrow alley, pulled out his phone, and tapped the number for Sawamura that he had saved that morning.

“Beep—beep—”

“Hello? What does Cap need?”

The voice carried over the phone was slightly distorted, making Sawamura’s true mood impossible to read.

“Where are you right now? I’ll come find you.”

“I’m already on the train back to Seidou! I’ve also asked Cheetah-sama to meet me at the station, so Cap can relax completely!”

“No need to bother Kuramochi. Wait for me—”

“Hello? Hello? Another call’s coming in, so I’m hanging up first! Beep—beep—”

“...Wait for me at the station. I’ll come back with you.”

Miyuki put away his phone and silently headed toward the station.

At the very least, the problem wasn’t just the bicycle.

And it wasn’t simply that he had hidden his real reason for asking Sawamura out.

He had even silenced his phone today, so there had been no chance for Sawamura to see his calendar.

Then what exactly had gone wrong?

Miyuki couldn’t figure it out.

But there was one thing he could be certain of.

The confession plan had failed.

Today had been his last chance.

After boarding the train, Miyuki was squeezed into the corner between the doors and a handrail by the evening rush-hour crowd, swaying gently with the movement of the carriage.

Outside the window, the sun had completely disappeared beneath the horizon.

Inside, the glass reflected Miyuki’s despondent expression back at him.

Maybe I should rest for a while.

He hugged the shopping bag tighter against his chest and lowered his head slightly.

Miyuki Kazuya closed his eyes.

3.

Miyuki Kazuya opened his eyes.

He remembered having a very long dream.

Sawamura had been there in the summer, but his back was always disappearing ahead of him, running into the crowd until Miyuki could no longer see him.

As he pulled off his sleep mask with his right hand, Miyuki picked up the phone beside his pillow and lit the screen.

[Tuesday, August 25 — Sunny — 28/37°C]

[Schedule: Teach Sawamura how to ride a bicycle this afternoon]

Almost immediately, Miyuki looked toward the foot of the bed. He stumbled to his feet and reached into the pockets of the athletic outfit laid out there.

Wallet, handkerchief, and a key with a little record-shaped charm.

...It was today again.

Miyuki closed his hand around the key and sat down on the edge of the bed.

The first time, after Sawamura taught him how to ride a bicycle, he immediately suggested going back to Seidou.

The second time had been the same. Sawamura had clearly been enjoying himself while they shopped for clothes, but the moment Miyuki said, Looks like this is all I can buy today, Sawamura decided his job was done and immediately tried to leave.

Learning to ride a bicycle and buying clothes had nothing in common. One time, Miyuki had hidden his real intentions. The other time, he had explained the reason from the very beginning.

And yet both times, Sawamura had wanted to leave once he had “finished helping Miyuki.”

...Was that it?

Miyuki looked down at his phone, opened LINE, and tapped the contact saved as Sawamura Eijun.

What if there was nothing he needed Sawamura to do?

What if Miyuki simply wanted to spend time with him?

————

[Sawamura, forget about teaching me how to ride a bike today. You don’t need to help me with anything either. Let’s just go out and have fun.]

[Shiba Inu · Question Mark.jpg]

[Did Cap’s account get hacked? I’m going to Room 11 right now!]

[(Voice message) I wasn’t hacked. There’s no ulterior motive either. I just want to hang out with you.]

[(Voice message) Where are we going?! I need to prepare in advance! Ahahahahaha!]

[Secret~ Still three o’clock? Wait in your room. I’ll come get you when I’m ready.]

[Shiba Inu · OK.jpg]

————

So at least his first guess seemed to be right.

Feeling considerably lighter, Miyuki said goodbye to Shirasu and headed upstairs while opening his navigation app to search for the route to the amusement park.

Halfway up the stairs, something suddenly occurred to him. He awkwardly backed out to the home screen, opened Settings again to check the notification volume, then switched to his contacts to confirm that Sawamura’s phone number had been saved properly.

Everything was in order.

Today, he was definitely going to confess successfully.

————

[Sawamura, Coach needs to talk to me about something. I might be a little late. I’ll come to Room 5 when I’m done.]

[No rush, no rush! Cap should take care of business first!]

[We’re finished. I should be there in about two minutes, so you can start getting ready.]

[Shiba Inu · OK.jpg]

————

“Whoa! This is my first time seeing an amusement park this huge!” Sawamura stared at the enormous map near the entrance with shining eyes. “What does Cap want to ride first?”

“I don’t really have a preference. Pick whatever you want. Oh, right, the park closes in an hour and a half, and most rides don’t have much of a line right now, so if we hurry—”

“We can do all of them!”

Sawamura jumped excitedly, grabbed Miyuki by the wrist, and took off toward the bumper cars.

The clear blue sky had already begun to turn pink-orange, and even the sunlight falling over them seemed to have lost some of its oppressive heat.

They moved against the flow of people.

Past young couples walking sweetly together, around families of three holding hands with their children, through narrow gaps between clusters of colorful balloons.

Cheerful music played endlessly, and the air smelled faintly of candy.

It felt like a dream.

Just like Sawamura holding his hand.

At some point, the hand around Miyuki’s wrist slid downward. Miyuki instinctively turned his own hand over, and their palms met.

They didn’t let go until a staff member guided them toward the bumper cars.

“Does Cap want to drive, or should I?”

Miyuki looked down at Sawamura’s sparkling eyes, then at the wide grin on his face.

“You do it,” he answered without thinking.

“Yes! The great Sawamura will absolutely live up to your trust!”

The great Sawamura was, in fact, very skilled at driving bumper cars.

If the seat belt hadn’t been wrapped around Miyuki’s waist, and if Sawamura’s back hadn’t been directly in front of him, Miyuki suspected he would have been knocked clean out of the car before even a minute had passed.

“Sawamura! Another car’s coming from the side!”

“Ahahahahaha! Exactly what I wanted!!!”

As time went on, Miyuki gradually gave up on warning Sawamura about incoming cars and focused entirely on fighting the dizziness from the constant spinning. Eventually, he had been reduced to mentally counting down the seconds until the ride ended.

“Ding-ding-ding—”

Using the last of its momentum, the bumper car crashed into the barrier, bounced back once, and finally stopped.

“That was seriously... so much fun! I want to go again!”

Sawamura excitedly undid his seat belt, climbed out, then turned around to unfasten Miyuki’s.

Leaning against Sawamura, Miyuki said with perfect seriousness, “There are still a bunch of rides we haven’t done. How about we come back to the bumper cars if there’s time after we finish everything else?”

“As expected of Cap! Then... I want to ride that next!”

Following Sawamura’s finger, Miyuki heard a wave of screams at exactly the right moment. A train plunged down a nearly vertical slope before twisting upside down along the track.

Miyuki suddenly had a bad feeling.

But when he glanced sideways and saw Sawamura’s completely captivated expression, he couldn’t bring himself to say no.

“...It’s faster to get to the roller coaster from this side.”

“Yoshi, yoshi!”

Once again, Sawamura reached out and took Miyuki’s hand before jogging forward.

They moved against the current.

Sawamura’s back had already disappeared into the crowd, but unlike in the dream, Miyuki wasn’t the one being left behind this time.

From a distance, the roller coaster line looked much longer than Miyuki had expected. Once they rounded the corner, though, he realized it was actually the line for an ice cream stand.

He wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

“Huh? The next train won’t be until ten minutes from now...” Sawamura stopped, visibly torn. “Should we line up for the pirate ship instead, or keep waiting? If we hurry, we can still make the pirate ship now, but I don’t know if we’d still make it back for the roller coaster afterward...”

Miyuki followed his gaze toward the pirate ship, then looked at the end of the ice cream line.

“Want some ice cream? My treat.”

The words worked like a magic spell, instantly freeing Sawamura from his dilemma.

“I want the orange one!”

Two minutes later, Miyuki strode back toward him with an orange ice cream cone in each hand.

“Here. Apparently it’s mango-passionfruit.”

“I thought it would be orange soda,” Sawamura said, cupping the cone in both hands before taking a bite. “But this is pretty good too. Thanks, Cap!”

Screams tore past overhead as the roller coaster went by, sharply contrasting with the quiet of the two of them standing there eating ice cream.

“...Sawamura, why did you pick orange?”

“Hmm...”

“Probably because orange feels reassuring... And the orange soda ice pops at the convenience store by the school gate are always super popular! I can never get one before they sell out, so whenever I see orange ice cream, I just want it! Ahahahahaha!”

Miyuki burst out laughing before he could stop himself. Taking advantage of the opening, he asked, “Then if you had to choose between an orange soda ice pop and the most expensive ice cream in the convenience store, which one would you pick?”

“Obviously the orange soda ice pop!”

“Why?”

“Because if I have money next time, I can still buy the expensive ice cream! But the orange soda ice pops are always gone!” Sawamura took a vicious bite out of the orange ice cream on top of his cone, then said with complete seriousness, “It’s like finally getting an amazing turn at bat. If you miss your chance, who knows when the next one will come? At a time like that, obviously you swing with everything you’ve got!”

“Sure, sure~ Sawamura-sensei~~”

“Hey, stop talking! Your ice cream’s gonna melt!”

Their time eating ice cream passed far too quickly. No matter how reluctant Miyuki might have been, he still followed Sawamura onto the roller coaster as though nothing were wrong.

“Cap doesn’t have to be scared. You can borrow my hand. If you get frightened, just squeeze it.”

Before the train started moving, Sawamura gave Miyuki the unusually solemn promise and took his hand first.

“Who says I’m scared?” Miyuki was smiling, and he certainly looked fine.

It was equally true that he didn’t pull his hand away.

When the bell rang, the seat beneath him began to vibrate noticeably, and a clear force pressed into his back.

Miyuki reached up to adjust the glasses that weren’t on his face, only then remembering that all his loose belongings had been left in the storage area by the entrance.

His left hand tightened around Sawamura’s.

The pounding of his heart was unnervingly clear.

And why was there so little track left before the top?

The next instant, weightlessness hit him all at once.

The evening breeze that had been gentle moments ago now slammed directly into his face. Under the intense stimulation, Miyuki couldn’t help narrowing his eyes, but tears still leaked uncontrollably from the corners.

Through the rapid climbs, dives, and loops, at first the only thing he could register was how tightly Sawamura was gripping his left hand.

And somehow, all of a sudden, he wasn’t quite so afraid anymore.

Miyuki opened his eyes against the wind and calmly observed the world flipping upside down, tilting left and right around him.

At least he could predict what was coming next from the direction of the track.

Much better than being smashed around in total chaos on the bumper cars.

Little by little, Miyuki began to actually experience the ride. He started shouting along with the person beside him during the plunges, letting all the anxiety and confusion in his chest spill out with his voice.

When the roller coaster finally passed over its last slope and slowly returned to the station, Miyuki felt, for the first time in a long while, that he wasn’t quite ready for something to end.

“Aah—! I feel so much better after screaming all that out!” Sawamura turned toward Miyuki with a smile. “I’m so happy, Miyuki-senpai!”

“Me too.”

The corners of Miyuki’s mouth naturally curved into a genuine smile.

“Mm...” Sawamura seemed to stare at him for a moment too long, a faint flush spreading across his cheeks.

But Miyuki wasn’t wearing his glasses, so he couldn’t see clearly.

Or rather, whether Sawamura was embarrassed, whether he was blushing, didn’t really matter anymore.

At least he was having fun.

That was enough.

“One hour until closing. Guests are reminded to plan the rest of their visit accordingly,” the park announcement played just as the train came to a complete stop.

For most of the next half hour, they hurried through the remaining rides they wanted most, only starting toward the exit just before the final round of operations began.

Then Sawamura stopped in front of the bumper cars.

“Miyuki-senpai, let’s do one more!”

Miyuki froze for a moment before matching Sawamura’s running pace. They hurried over and just barely made it inside.

This time, however, Miyuki didn’t sit behind Sawamura.

He chose a single-seater car of his own.

Thankfully, this time Miyuki finally conquered his fear of bumper cars once and for all.

Twilight had already settled. A thin wash of pink-purple still lingered on the horizon, while fireworks burst brilliantly overhead before closing time, joining the colorful amusement rides behind them to create a scene like something from a dream.

The dazzling lights reflected in Sawamura’s slightly widened eyes, bright and vivid.

Cheerful closing music began to play over the speakers. The crowd flowed toward the exit like a tide, then scattered in every direction.

On the way to the station, Sawamura practically bounced with every step, the happiness in his movements impossible to miss.

Miyuki, walking beside him, seemed distracted. Several times he tried to say something, but every time, the words went unspoken.

“Today was so much fun—”

“Now Miyuki-senpai won’t have any regrets about the rest of his high school vacation, right? And if Cap ever comes here with new teammates in the future, you’ll already know which rides are fun!”

Sawamura’s contented voice broke the silence first.

Miyuki’s steps stopped.

Today, Sawamura hadn’t helped him with anything.

They had both had a wonderful time.

So why did Sawamura still seem to think of all this as some kind of farewell event to commemorate the final day of Miyuki’s high school years?

“Why do you keep saying ‘in the future’?”

“Because Cap’s graduating soon.” Sawamura smiled as though the answer were obvious.

“And you?”

“Me? Obviously I’ll keep pitching at Seidou!”

“I know. When I say ‘the future,’ I mean Miyuki Kazuya’s future. Will you be in it?”

“Once I graduate from university and go pro too, maybe I’ll get the chance to play against Cap someday!”

Sawamura spun around in place and continued smoothly, “Cap’s probably considering the Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo, right? Your baseball skills definitely aren’t the problem, but you need to think about relationships with your teammates too! Ah... and your fashion sense. That’s a huge problem too! Maybe you can just copy outfits straight out of fashion magazines? Your face is really good-looking anyway! ...”

Miyuki barely remembered anything Sawamura said after that.

This time, Sawamura didn’t run away.

He even boarded the train back with Miyuki.

Maybe there was still a chance to confess.

But Miyuki wasn’t going to.

He stood swaying inside the train, Sawamura dozing in the seat directly in front of him, while countless lights glittered outside the window.

In the future Sawamura imagined for Miyuki, Sawamura himself wasn’t there.

And in Sawamura’s own future, Miyuki existed only in some hypothetical game years from now that might never even happen.

As though their “afters” were inevitably two roads branching farther and farther apart.

Their toes were less than half a meter apart.

Miyuki could have reached out and ruffled that fluffy brown head awake with a single movement.

Does Sawamura think I won’t need him anymore once I leave?

Or does he think he only has a reason to stay beside me when I need something from him?

The exhaustion from an afternoon of uninhibited fun seeped into his limbs, while an announcement for the next station sounded in his ears.

What am I supposed to do with you, Sawamura?

Miyuki Kazuya closed his eyes.

4.

Miyuki Kazuya opened his eyes.

He took a deep breath, and as he exhaled, raised his phone.

[Tuesday, August 25 — Sunny — 28/37°C]

[Schedule: Teach Sawamura how to ride a bicycle this afternoon]

His heart sank, lightly and slowly.

[Delete August 25 schedule item? Yes / No]

His finger moved to [Yes] and tapped it without hesitation.

The weight that had been hanging over him seemed to vanish along with the selection, and Miyuki suddenly realized how much lighter his whole body felt.

He got up and walked to the foot of the bed, pulled the key with the little record charm out of the athletic outfit’s pocket, then after a moment’s thought opened his wallet and took out a bill.

That should be enough for two orange soda ice pops.

————

[Sawamura, forget about teaching me how to ride a bike today. Are you free this evening? Come take a walk with me.]

[Where are we going?]

[Haven’t decided. We’ll just walk and see where we end up.]

[My whole afternoon is free! What time should we meet, Cap?]

[Around four-thirty? I’ll come get you from Room 5.]

[Shiba Inu · OK.jpg]

————

When Miyuki walked into the cafeteria carrying two orange soda ice pops, he happened to run into Kuramochi, who had just grabbed a pudding.

“Yahah! You actually bought those?”

“I heard they’re really popular, so I thought I’d try one.” Miyuki opened the freezer compartment of the refrigerator and shoved the ice pops all the way to the back. “By the way, is it true Sawamura wants to go to university and form a battery with Chris-senpai?”

Kuramochi froze. “Who told you that?”

“So it’s true.”

Miyuki’s face didn’t show much emotion, as though he had known for a long time already.

Kuramochi frowned, hesitating before he said, “That idiot has been acting weird lately. He’s looking into both university and pro baseball, but when anyone asks, he won’t say anything... Tch, why are you suddenly smiling like that? It’s creepy.”

Miyuki wiped the smile off his face and walked away with an almost irritating air of composure under Kuramochi’s suspicious, alien-sighting stare.

————

Four-thirty in the afternoon.

“Knock, knock—”

“Why is it you again?”

“Cap’s here for me!”

Kuramochi turned and watched Sawamura spring happily to his feet. For no clear reason, irritation surged up inside him. He thoroughly messed up Sawamura’s hair before finally letting him go.

“Waaah! You ruined my hair!”

The only response Sawamura got was the crisp slam of the door closing.

“Let’s stop by the cafeteria first.”

“Okay, okay!”

When Sawamura watched Miyuki expertly dig two orange soda ice pops out from the very bottom of the cafeteria freezer, his eyes went wide. “They actually have these here?!”

“I bought them when I went out this morning.”

“These sell out really fast!”

“That’s why I bought them in the morning.” Miyuki took one out and handed it over, asking casually, “Want one?”

The sun was beginning to set, and the horizon had just started turning a warm orange-gold, almost exactly the same color as the orange soda ice pops in their hands.

After leaving the school grounds, Miyuki wandered aimlessly up and down the streets, taking occasional bites from the ice pop in his hand.

Too sweet.

Sawamura followed close behind him, savoring his orange soda ice pop with great care, his face full of bliss.

“Cap, who are you planning to recommend to Boss as the new team captain?”

“Haven’t decided yet. Got anyone in mind?”

“How about me! Seidou’s blazing left-handed Ace Captain, Sawamura Eijun! Doesn’t that sound amazing?”

“Ahaha, I’ll consider it~”

“The great Sawamura wasn’t even on your candidate list?!”

“You are now~” At another intersection, Miyuki trusted his instincts and turned right. “Hey, Sawamura. What are you planning to do after this?”

“First I need to get in sync with Wolf Boy, right? Develop more Numbers, work on my power hitting, then win the autumn tournament with the new team...”

“Mm-hm.”

“Oh, and I need to keep an eye on Yui and Asada too. Ideally, Yui can help fix my swing, and then home runs should be easy! Ahahahahaha!”

“Mm-hm...”

“Wolf Boy came to find me this morning so we could watch game footage together! He spotted a few things I can improve. Too bad today’s mandatory rest day means I can’t pitch... But tomorrow I can pitch as much as I want!”

“Hm? No, you can’t. I’ll remind Okumura to limit your pitch count when we get back. Thirty pitches, maybe? No more than that.”

“Hnnngh... Not fair!!! Cap, you’re not even—uh, Wolf Boy is the catcher who catches for me now!”

“I can still catch for you.”

“Uh, uh, ah—Cap, are you done with your ice pop? I see a trash can over there! I’ll throw it away for you!”

Amused and exasperated at the same time, Miyuki handed over the wrapper to Sawamura, who was staring at him with wide catlike eyes.

While Sawamura jogged over to throw away the trash, Miyuki looked around at the streetscape that felt both unfamiliar and oddly familiar, then opened his map app.

Sure enough, if they followed the fork to the right and kept going uphill, they would reach the spot he had once carefully scouted out.

The road gradually narrowed as it climbed, and there were far fewer cars. Beside them, only one cyclist pedaled effortlessly uphill.

“Cap said yesterday that I was supposed to teach you how to ride a bicycle, right? Why’d you cancel today?”

Sawamura followed behind Miyuki, climbing step by step.

“Because I realized I never needed to use learning how to ride a bike as an excuse.”

“Huh?”

Pink-purple evening clouds had begun to spread across the sky. The last light of the sunset fell over Miyuki’s back like a layer of gold, even making the strands of hair lifted by the evening breeze glimmer.

“If I want to ask you out, I can just say I want to see you.”

He shifted slightly to the side, opening a path for Sawamura.

“We’re here.”

When they climbed the final step, a solemn torii gate came into view on the right, and the faint scent of water reached them.

To the left, the broad river shimmered. The setting sun disappeared at the far edge of the water, while pink-purple clouds filled the sky, layered with orange-red and gold.

Flocks of birds skimmed over the river, leaving behind the silhouettes of beating wings and droplets of water that flashed like sparks of light.

Sawamura stared for a moment, almost dazed.

“Sawamura, starting tomorrow, how often do you think we’ll see each other like this?”

“Of course we’ll still see each other! We’re both at school!”

“I mean like this. No practice, no catching for you, no reason I need you for something. Just the two of us spending time together.”

Sawamura blinked and thought about it. “...Probably not that often? The new team starts training again tomorrow, and I still have to work on the Numbers with Wolf Boy. Cap has interviews too, plus all the stuff with the pro teams...”

“What about LINE?”

“Of course you can message me! But I definitely won’t bother you when you’re training!”

“What about when I have time off later?”

“That’s rare rest time, so you’ll probably go home, right? Or travel somewhere with your new teammates. And there’ll be mixers, uh, dates and stuff...”

Miyuki let out a long breath.

Exactly.

No matter what he asked, Sawamura would naturally plan out Miyuki’s future for him first, then remove himself from it.

“Do you think that from the moment I retired—or no, starting tomorrow—we’re supposed to slowly stop having anything to do with each other?”

“Huh?”

Sawamura jerked his head up.

“I-I wouldn’t say we have nothing to do with each other!” His voice rose immediately. “Cap is still Seidou’s former captain, and you’re still my senpai! And if I make it into pro baseball someday, maybe we’ll even meet in a game—”

Miyuki couldn’t stop himself from cutting him off. “Why do you have to wait until you go pro?”

Sawamura froze and looked up at Miyuki in confusion. There were even faint traces of tears in his golden-brown eyes.

“Can’t I message you on LINE?”

“You can...”

“Can’t I come back and see you when I have time off?”

“Of course you can...”

“Can’t you come watch my games?”

“But—”

“Why does every version of the future you imagine make us wait until we’re standing on a baseball field together again?”

A gust swept up from the river, blowing both their bangs into disarray. Somewhere behind them, an old bell from the shrine sounded faintly.

After a long while, Sawamura finally said quietly, “Because Cap’s going to be really busy.”

“Yeah.”

“There’ll be lots of amazing pitchers on your new team. You’ll meet lots of new people too.”

“I will.”

“I’ll have new catchers, and you’ll have new pitchers.”

“So?”

“So...” Sawamura’s voice suddenly dropped. “So what reason am I supposed to have to keep looking for you?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to... I want to, and that’s exactly why I don’t know what to do!”

Miyuki froze.

Before he could answer, Sawamura kept going.

“I never had to think about this before,” he said slowly. “If I wanted to pitch, I could just go find Cap. If I wanted to learn about pitch calling, I could go straight to Room 11. And after one game ended, there was always another game.”

“Because you were the catcher and I was the pitcher, I always thought... as long as baseball was still there, I’d always have a reason to stand beside you.”

In a flash, everything Miyuki had been unable to understand across the previous three August twenty-fifths finally connected.

After the bicycle lesson. After buying the suit. Even after the amusement park closed.

Every single time, Sawamura had been waiting for the moment when he was “supposed to leave.”

“Why do you need a reason?”

Miyuki stepped forward. “I already told you. If you want to see me, you can just come find me.”

Sawamura instinctively took half a step back.

“And I don’t come looking for you because I’m missing a pitcher.”

The sun had sunk very low. The gold on the river was gradually being swallowed by pink-purple light.

“It doesn’t matter if you have a new catcher later. It doesn’t matter if I have new pitchers.”

“It doesn’t matter if you go to university and I go pro.”

Miyuki reached out and steadied Sawamura by the shoulders.

“Because the person I want to see has always been Sawamura Eijun.”

Those golden-brown, slightly upturned eyes stared blankly at him.

Miyuki swallowed.

He had said these words countless times in his head, but now that the moment had actually come, his throat still tightened painfully.

“I like you.”

The wind suddenly grew louder, billowing the fabric of their clothes.

Sawamura didn’t pull away. He didn’t even move. He only stared at Miyuki with wide eyes, and after a long time, his voice came out hoarse.

“...But today is the last day of break after the Summer Koshien.”

“Starting tomorrow, I’m going back to practice with the new team, and Cap’s already retired.”

He lowered his head and looked at the long shadows the sunset cast behind them.

“You won’t have to catch for me every day anymore. You won’t have to keep track of how many pitches I throw.”

“And after a while, you’re going to get busier and busier.”

His fingers slowly tightened around the strap of his bag.

“So... what if Cap only feels reluctant to let go because you suddenly can’t keep playing baseball anymore?”

Miyuki froze. His grip on Sawamura’s shoulders tightened unconsciously.

But Sawamura didn’t pull away, and he still didn’t lift his head.

“Because our last Summer Koshien is over. Because we won’t be able to practice together the way we used to. Maybe that’s why you suddenly feel like... I’m special.”

“Once you really join your new team and start your new life, maybe you won’t think that anymore.”

“Sawamura.”

“Mm...”

“Look at me.”

Sawamura dragged it out for a while before finally raising his eyes.

“If I only hated the idea of not catching for you anymore, I would’ve shown up today carrying a mitt.”

“...Because today’s a no-pitching day?”

“...If I only hated the idea of leaving Seidou baseball behind, I would’ve gone to the field.”

Miyuki looked at him.

“But the first thing I did this morning was delete ‘learn how to ride a bicycle’ from my schedule.”

Sawamura’s lashes trembled faintly, moisture glinting almost imperceptibly.

“Because I didn’t want to keep finding reasons to make you useful to me.”

“I don’t need you to do anything today.”

“I just wanted to buy you something you like and walk with you for a while.” Miyuki paused. “I just wanted to see you.”

Sawamura’s eyes reddened, the tears gathering at the corners threatening to spill over.

“And you’ve got it backward.”

“Mm?” His thick, nasal voice lifted uncertainly.

“It’s not because I can’t keep being your catcher that I realized I like you.”

Miyuki smiled, his eyes curving gently. “It’s because I like you that even if I’m not your catcher anymore, I’ll still want to see you.”

One tear slid down Sawamura’s cheek and fell to the ground. Then more followed in a rush.

Miyuki used one hand to pull the handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wipe Sawamura’s face as he spoke.

“I’ll want to tomorrow too.”

“And next month.”

“And after I graduate.”

“As for a few years from now...” He paused. “I don’t know what we’ll be like by then.”

“But not knowing and having nothing are two different things, right?”

Sawamura sniffled.

“I’ll be busy. You’ll be busy too. Sometimes we might go a whole week without seeing each other, and we might not always answer LINE right away.”

“But that doesn’t mean we suddenly have nothing to do with each other.”

Miyuki’s hand slowly slid down from Sawamura’s shoulder until it wrapped around his wrist.

“So stop deciding for me when you’re supposed to disappear from my future.”

Sawamura snatched the handkerchief away from the side of his face and pressed it hard over his eyes.

“......Bastard four-eyes.”

“Mm.”

“That’s way too unfair to say...”

“Mm.”

“And why do you look like you’ve finally solved some huge problem?!”

“Do I?”

“You do!!!”

Sawamura stuffed the crumpled handkerchief straight into his own pocket and sniffed.

“I’m going to send you lots and lots of LINE messages from now on.”

“Fine.”

“Even when they have nothing to do with baseball.”

“Of course.”

The corners of Sawamura’s mouth began to rise, the curve growing wider and wider.

“Then Cap’s not allowed to complain that I’m annoying!”

“...Hey.”

“And game tickets! You have to save one for the great Sawamura every single time!”

“Aren’t you getting a little greedy now?”

“Miyuki Kazuya is the one who said I don’t need a reason!”

“Fine, fine.”

Sawamura finally burst out laughing, and Miyuki laughed with him. Their voices drifted away and scattered over the river in the evening wind.

After a while, Sawamura seemed to suddenly remember something and put on a serious face again.

“Wait!”

“What now?”

“You forgot the most important part!”

“What?”

The redness at the corners of Sawamura’s eyes surged across his cheeks and all the way to his ears.

He opened his mouth several times, then suddenly squeezed his eyes shut and shouted with the same force he used for an all-out pitch.

“I LIKE MIYUKI KAZUYA TOO!!!”

A flock of birds burst from the shrine behind them in startled confusion, filling the air with cries.

Miyuki froze for two seconds, then finally bent over laughing.

“You’re too loud, Sawamura—”

“SHUT UUUUUP!!!”

This time, they walked back side by side along the road they had come from.

After they reached the bottom of the hill, Sawamura suddenly swung their joined hands.

“Oh, right, Cap.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve decided I’m going to university and forming a battery with Chris-senpai.”

“You’ve made up your mind?”

“Mm!” Sawamura nodded hard. “It’s my baseball, so of course I’m the one who gets to decide!”

“Fair enough.”

A thin trace of pink-purple remained on the horizon behind them. Directly overhead, brilliant points of starlight began to appear.

5.

Miyuki Kazuya opened his eyes.

With practiced ease, he picked up the phone beside his pillow and lit the screen.

[Wednesday, August 26 — Sunny — 24/35°C]

[Schedule: 10:00 a.m. interview; 3:00 p.m. meeting with Yomiuri Giants scout]

[LINE (Sawamura Eijun) (3 minutes ago): Morning, Cap! Come to the bullpen and witness the great Sawamura’s full-power pitching!]

[LINE (Sawamura Eijun) (2 minutes ago): AND if the convenience store has orange soda ice pops today, save one for me!!!]

[Only one ice pop a day~ (Unread)]

[If the orange soda ones are sold out, I’ll buy you the most expensive one. (Unread)]