Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mei scowled, tempted to throw the baseball in his hand at the wall.

“Seidou’s a strong opponent.” Fukui sat next to Itsuki, an open notebook laying on the table in front of him. “We need to make sure we don’t underestimate them.”

Yabe scoffed. “We’re not that overconfident.” His eyes darkened. “Those of us who played last year remember that game like it was yesterday.”

Carlos grinned. “I don’t think we’ve got anything to worry about.” He looked at Shirakawa, who sat beside him. “Right?”

Shirakawa scowled. “It won’t be easy, but we’ll win again.”

“One more thing.”

Everyone looked at Fukui, surprised.

“While Furuya will most likely start, we can’t forget about Eijun.” Fukui flipped a page before clicking a button, causing the screen to show Eijun. “Make sure to simulate going against him during practice.”

Mei glowered at the Eijun on the screen, letting go of the baseball to clench his fists.

That little…!

He still couldn’t believe…!

Yabe narrowed his eyes, looking determined. “I’ll hit off Eijun this time.”

“So confident,” Carlos teased.

Yabe shot him a dirty look. “Like you don’t feel the same.”

“… You’re right.” Carlos made a face, causing a couple of the first years to look surprised. A determined look came onto his face a couple of moments later. “He won’t overpower me this time.”

Shirakawa looked down at his hands, forming a fist with his right hand. He narrowed his eyes, looking determined.

Akamatsu grinned. “I won’t be playing, but I’m looking forward to Eijun-san’s pitches.” He looked at Itsuki, who sat across from Mei. “Right, Tadano-senpai?”

“Eijun’s a formidable opponent.” Itsuki looked determined. “I didn’t play last year, but even I could feel how he easily changed the tide for Seidou.”

Carlos grinned. “I’m looking forward to playing against Furuya, but I’m hoping we can hit off him and pull out Eijun early.”

Shirakawa clicked his tongue. “Like it will be that easy.”

“I know, but it’s fun to think about, right?” Carlos’ grin widened when Shirakawa looked away from him.

Fukui hummed, studying his notebook. “Furuya’s a different pitcher compared to last year. I doubt it will be that easy.”

Yabe puffed his chest out. “Leave it up to us! We’ll make sure to score runs!”

“It’ll be great if you guys can score runs off Furuya as early as possible.” Fukui looked up from his notebook, a serious look on his face. “Something tells me we won’t have an easy time against Eijun.”

Mei clenched his fists even tighter.

Carlos grinned. “I’m not surprised, considering our opponent will be Eijun. We’ll score some runs off Furuya.” He looked at Mei. “That way, our ace can relax some.”

Everyone blinked at their ace’s tense posture.

Yabe frowned. “Speaking of relaxing…”

“What’s wrong with you?” Shirakawa frowned. “Are you needlessly jealous again?”

Mei glowered at him. “What do you mean by ‘needlessly jealous’!”

Carlos frowned deeply. “Exactly what it means. Eijun’s your boyfriend, Mei.”

“I still think he’s stupid for staying with him this long.” Shirakawa scowled.

Mei scoffed, grabbing the baseball in his left hand. “Stupid is right.” He clicked his tongue. “That guy’s so stupid.”

Several of the Inashiro first string members looked surprised, others confused.

What the hell?

What was wrong with their ace?

Normally, he’d be getting jealous or telling them not to call Eijun stupid.

Itsuki gave him a concerned look. “Mei-san, is everything alright with Eijun?”

“Don’t ask me.” Mei frowned deeply at the baseball. “He’s the problem.”

Carlos hummed. “You two get into an argument?”

Shirakawa rolled his eyes. “That’s nothing new.”

Yabe shot him a dirty look. “It’s your fault, isn’t it? Hurry up and apologize.”

“This isn’t my fault!” Mei glowered at them. “He’s the one who’s ignoring me!”

Carlos snorted. “Again, that’s nothing new. You should apologize.”

“Why do you automatically assume it’s my fault!”

Shirakawa gave him a disapproving look. “Because we know what you’re like.”

Itsuki frowned. “Eijun wouldn’t ignore you for no reason, Mei-san.”

“I know that!” Mei huffed. “I don’t understand why he’s doing it, though!”

Itsuki hummed. “You talked to him before our game, didn’t you?”

Mei scowled, tightening his grip on the baseball. “He hasn’t talked to me since!” He let out a frustrated sound. “The nerve of that guy!”

“He could be busy, you know.” Carlos gave him a pointed look. “Did you ever think about that?”

Shirakawa clicked his tongue. “Impossible. That would require thinking about someone other than himself.”

Yabe scoffed. “Yeah, he’s not capable of doing that.”

Itsuki frowned at them. “Mei-san cares about Eijun.” He looked at Mei. “They have a point, though, Mei-san. Isn’t he busy with practice?”

“That’s not…” Mei let out another frustrated sound, running his hand through his hair. “That’s not it. I’m not talking about right now.” At their confused looks, he rolled his eyes. “I messaged him last night, and when he never responded, I tried to call him.”

Fukui frowned. “And that worried you?”

“Worry…!” Mei dropped the baseball on the table, his jaw dropping. He narrowed his eyes. “I’m not worried! I’m angry, Fuku-chan!”

Carlos rolled his eyes. “Again, the world doesn’t revolve around you.”

“But I’m Eijun’s world!”

Several of them groaned, making faces.

Yabe looked disgusted, sticking his tongue out. “Did you really just say that?”

Shirakawa clicked his tongue again. “He has a life outside of you, you know.”

“Yeah, Mei.” Carlos frowned. “He’s got his friends and teammates.”

Mei pouted. “I know that, but…”

“But what?”

Mei gave them a serious look, causing several of them to blink. “Eijun usually messages me back. He promised me he would let me know if he’s too busy to talk.”

Itsuki looked concerned. “And he didn’t?”

“Yeah.” Mei frowned at the table. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

Yabe sighed, placing a hand on his forehead. “Have you ever thought you’re the problem?” He shot him a dirty look. “Why are you always quick to blame Eijun?”

Mei looked up, his eyes flashing dangerously. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re the idiot this time.” Carlos snorted.

Shirakawa scowled. “I’m not surprised you didn’t realize that.”

Fukui looked at them, holding up his hands. “There, there. Calm down.” He looked at Mei, furrowing his eyebrows. “It’s as Itsuki said. Eijun must have a reason for this.”

“He’s ignoring me!” Mei huffed, grabbing the baseball and standing up. “What part of that do you guys not understand!”

Yabe gave him a disapproving look. “See? You’re doing it again.”

Itsuki hummed. “Eijun hasn’t told me anything. It must’ve happened recently.” He glanced at the baseball in Mei’s hand. “Maybe it has to do with his teammates?”

Mei frowned deeply at the table for several moments, causing some of them to look hopeful.

Maybe Itsuki’s words got through to him?

(As expected of Mei’s battery partner.)

Mei scoffed a few moments later. “Even if it does, he would’ve messaged me.” He rolled his eyes, turning around. “Not that I’m surprised you guys took his side.” He walked over to the door.

Those who looked hopeful glowered at him.

“What’s that supposed to mean!”

“You made us feel hopeful for nothing!”

“Apologize to Eijun!”

Mei turned around, his eyes flashing dangerously. “He’s the one who needs to apologize.” He clicked his tongue. “He’s so impertinent.”

Carlos looked at Shirakawa. “See? This is why I feel sorry for Eijun.”

“I feel sorry for him, too.” Shirakawa glowered at Mei. “He’s too stupid to realize that our idiot ace only cares about himself.”

Yabe scoffed. “I don’t know why Eijun puts up with him.”

Mei glowered at him. “He doesn’t put up with me. He likes me.”

Itsuki took out his cell phone, frowning at it. “Maybe I should message Eijun. I’m sure he—”

“Don’t!”

Everyone looked at Mei, surprised.

“This is none of your business!” Mei’s eyes flashed dangerously, causing a few of them to gulp. “Don’t get involved!” He looked at Fukui. “The meeting’s over, right? I’m leaving.”

Fukui nodded at first, but he quickly shook his head a few moments later. He held out one hand. “Wait, Mei. I wanted to ask about Eijun.”

Mei huffed, knowing what he wanted to ask. “You guys better not take it easy on him! I won’t forgive you if you do!” He looked each of them in the eye. “Do whatever it takes to hit off him!”

Several of their eyes widened at what he implied.

Was he serious?

He didn’t care if they…

Mei, though, looked unaffected, as if he didn’t care about Eijun. “Is that all, Fuku-chan?” After giving them a warning look, he walked out the door, slamming the door behind him, causing several of them to wince.

Several moments passed in silence before Carlos snorted.

“Honestly, he’s the only guy who will tell us it’s none of our business after telling us everything.”

Yabe scoffed. “Then he has the audacity to tell us not to get involved.”

Itsuki sighed, looking guilty. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault he left.”

He regretted mentioning something about messaging Eijun.

When he said it, he meant that he wanted to message Eijun and make sure he was alright.

He didn’t blame Mei-san for misunderstanding, as he didn’t specify what he meant.

“Don’t apologize!” Yabe glared at him. “It’s his fault!”

Carlos rolled his eyes. “He’s just sulking because Eijun’s not giving him attention.”

Shirakawa looked disapproving. “He should do it more often. Maybe our idiot ace will finally realize the world doesn’t revolve around him.”

“Hey, guys?” Fukui frowned deeply. “About what Mei just said… He wasn’t…?”

Carlos hummed, glancing at Shirakawa. “He was. You know how serious he is about winning.”

“Will Eijun be alright?”

Shirakawa scowled. “He’s a pitcher. We’ll do everything we can to take him down.”

Only Carlos noticed the way Shirakawa’s hands formed fists under the table.

Carlos grinned, nudging Shirakawa. “I wouldn’t worry. I’m sure Eijun’s gotten over it by now.” His grin widened when Shirakawa and everyone else looked at him. “It gives us something to look forward to.”

Yabe blinked a few times. “Something to look forward to?”

“If you think about Eijun’s pitching last year compared to this year…” Carlos laughed. “Well… You can’t really compare them. I’ve got goosebumps just thinking about it.”

Yabe furrowed his eyebrows for a few moments before grinning. “I get it. We’ll get to have a proper showdown with him.”

“Exactly.” Carlos looked smug.

Shirakawa hummed. “You can’t really count last year. All he had was his fastballs.”

“Exactly.” Carlos still looked smug. “When you think about the breaking balls and control Eijun’s got now…” He shivered. “Doesn’t it excite you?”

Itsuki smiled a soft smile. “Eijun’s a true pitcher now. I’m looking forward to seeing his pitches.”

Yabe gave him a teasing grin. “Good luck trying to hit his pitches.”

Itsuki looked determined. “I’ll do my best.”

Fukui stood up, clapping his hands, causing everyone to look at him. “Alright. Let’s get to morning practice. I believe in you guys.”

Several people grinned, holding up a fist.

“Yeah!”

“Let’s do it!”

“As expected of Fuku-chan! He gave us the words we wanted to hear most!”

They left Inashiro’s video room and made their way to their practice field, chatting about Seidou’s batters and pitchers.

(Honestly? While they chatted about Furuya’s pitches, they mainly talked about Eijun. They couldn’t wait to play against him again.)

Mei stood in the bullpen, tapping his foot. “Took you long enough! Hurry up, Itsuki!”

“Ah… There you are, Mei-san.” Itsuki ran over to him. “Did you already warm up?”

Mei scoffed. “Of course I did! Who do you think I am!” He pointed at him with his glove. “Hurry up! I can’t pitch without you!”

“That’s good.” Itsuki gave him a soft smile before leaving the bullpen. “I’ll go warm up.”

Mei huffed, ignoring some of his teammates’ nervous expressions.

He probably didn’t need to be so impatient, as Itsuki wanted to check on his form and the condition of his pitches in preparation for tomorrow’s game.

(Itsuki (and Kantoku for that matter) would probably only let him throw ten pitches at most.)

Thinking about Eijun and how he ignored him, though, annoyed him.

His teammates blaming him and talking about Eijun only made him angrier.

He wanted to let off some steam.

Shaking his head at his thoughts, Mei forced himself to take a deep breath, not wanting his anger to affect his pitching.

Enough was enough.

He didn’t want his anger with Eijun to affect his pitching in tomorrow’s game.

(They must win tomorrow’s game to return to Koushien. Not that he had any doubt.)

He also didn’t want this… situation to affect Eijun’s pitching.

“Mei-san, sorry to make you wait!” Itsuki ran over to his spot in the bullpen.

Mei clicked his tongue, tossing a baseball up into the air. “Finally, Itsuki!”

He would message Eijun tonight, and if Eijun ignored him again, he planned on visiting Seidou himself.

(Some part of him knew it was wrong, but he didn’t care.)

His lips twitched despite himself at imagining Seidou’s reaction.

Inashiro’s ace visiting Seidou’s ace the night before their game?

What a scandal.

ZZZ

Kazuya frowned as he walked back to his dorm room.

He had gotten used to practicing his swings after practice, so even though tomorrow was their game with Inashiro, he still made sure to practice his swings.

Unlike last night, though, he practiced his swings alone.

Which… was strange.

Usually, someone would join him and practice near him, namely Sawamura or Furuya.

(Sometimes, both showed up. Their rivalry was as strong as ever.)

His frown deepened at the thought of Sawamura.

He didn’t understand Sawamura’s anger with him.

Kuramochi had mentioned something about how Sawamura had been acting strange.

Was that it?

Sawamura had acted like his normal self during practice, but when he caught Sawamura’s pitches, Sawamura had been uncharacteristically quiet.

Was Sawamura still angry with him?

The strangest thing was that… he didn’t even know why.

Normally, he knew why Sawamura felt angry, but this time…

It seemed to come out of nowhere.

What was with Sawamura’s timing?

Seriously, why did Sawamura have to do this the night before their game?

… Then again, he wasn’t a stranger to this situation.

(Last time, though, he had gotten into an argument with Sawamura. He didn’t even do anything this time.)

Sawamura didn’t let his anger with him affect his pitches (much to his relief).

They should be alright tomorrow.

He hummed.

Last year, he had felt understandably worried about Sawamura’s feelings for Mei. He had even thought Sawamura might take it easy on Mei (and the rest of Inashiro).

(He should’ve known Sawamura wouldn’t take it easy on Mei, as baseball meant everything to Sawamura. He couldn’t help it, though, especially after seeing how much Mei meant to him.)

This year, though…

He believed in Sawamura.

Believed in… their ace and his pitching.

Sawamura wouldn’t let him (or the rest of the team) down.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about his teammates, namely the ones who didn’t know Sawamura well.

“Aren’t you worried about Sawamura-senpai?”

Kazuya stopped himself from turning the corner.

“Eh? Worried about Sawamura-senpai? What do you mean?”

It sounded like some first years.

(Didn’t they know better than to talk about their senpai out in the open like that?)

The first guy hummed. “He’s dating Inashiro’s ace, isn’t he?”

“What are you…?” The second guy gasped. “Wait, are you…?”

The first guy let out a triumphant sound. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

“Eh? No way,” the second guy protested. “Sawamura-senpai wouldn’t go easy on Inashiro. Even if he is dating Inashiro’s ace.”

The first guy scoffed. “We don’t know that for sure. They look really close. Remember how he wore Narumiya-san’s game jersey to practice the other day?”

The second guy hummed. “Come to think of it… I heard they met up after our semifinal game.”

“See? I’ve got reason to be worried.”

The second guy let out a disapproving sound. “Still… You shouldn’t doubt our senpai like that.”

“I don’t get it.” The first guy sounded annoyed. “Why aren’t our senpai worried about Sawamura-senpai’s relationship with Narumiya-san? They don’t doubt him at all?”

The second guy sighed. “It could be they already knew? Besides, they’ve known Sawamura-senpai longer than we have.”

The first guy clicked his tongue. “They don’t look worried at all. Sawamura-senpai’s our ace. What if we get into a pinch tomorrow? We can’t count on someone who’s dating the enemy.”

Kazuya heard enough.

He stepped out of his hiding place, a part of him taking delight in the way their eyes widened.

“M-Miyuki-senpai!” The second guy gulped, glancing at his friend. “Good evening!” He bowed at the waist.

The first guy frowned before bowing at the waist. “Good evening. Good work.”

Kazuya nodded. “Good work.” He waited until they straightened up before narrowing his eyes. “Care to let me in on your discussion?”

The second guy paled, reaching out and grabbing his friend’s arm. “I-It was nothing, really! Just talking about tomorrow!” He tugged on his friend’s arm. “We’ll take our leave now!”

Kazuya hummed, looking at the first guy, who still looked unhappy. “Is that so? If you have any questions or concerns about tomorrow, we can talk about them.” He kept his tone light, reining back his anger (for now), wanting them to fall for his trap.

Sure enough, the first guy frowned deeply. “We were talking about Sawamura-senpai, but you probably already know that.”

So predictable.

“You’re right.” Kazuya resisted the urge to smirk. “I never thought I’d hear someone doubting him while coming back from practicing my swings.”

The first guy gave him a suspicious look. “You weren’t eavesdropping on purpose, were you?”

The second guy looked horrified, tugging on his arm again. “You shouldn’t accuse your senpai like that!”

“I don’t mind.” Kazuya grinned at the second guy, amused when he shivered. “As for eavesdropping…” He looked at the first guy. “You might not believe me, but it wasn’t on purpose.”

The first guy still looked suspicious. “Why did you decide to come out now?”

“Because I couldn’t listen silently anymore.” Kazuya’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Not after you insulted our ace like that.”

The first guy’s jaw dropped. “Insult…!” He frowned deeply, ignoring his friend's attempts to pull him away. “I wasn’t insulting him.”

Kazuya stepped closer, causing the second guy to flinch. “You’re doubting him, aren’t you?”

“That’s not the same thing as insulting him.”

Kazuya hummed. “So you think it’s alright to doubt your senpai’s abilities and feelings.”

“That’s not…!” The first guy made a face, causing Kazuya’s lips to twitch. “I was just worried!” He furrowed his eyebrows. “You’re not worried about him?”

Kazuya shrugged. “Not particularly. He and his pitches are in good shape.”

“That’s not what I mean!” The first guy let out a frustrated sound, causing Kazuya to hide his grin. “Is it true he’s dating Narumiya-san?”

This is fun.

Kazuya grinned. “Yeah, it’s true. He’s not the type of guy to hide stuff.”

He knew differently, of course, but these disrespectful first years didn’t need to know that.

“You’re not worried he’ll let his feelings for Narumiya-san affect his pitching?”

The second guy tugged on his arm, shooting him a dirty look. “Stop it. You’re going too far.”

“We might not know Sawamura-senpai as well as our senpai do, but we know what Sawamura-senpai’s like.” The first guy huffed. “That’s why I’m worried.”

Kazuya hummed, closing his eyes briefly. “So you’re not doubting his abilities as the ace.”

“Of course not.” The first guy shook his head. “It’s hard to forget his remarkable pitching in the semifinal game.”

Kazuya frowned deeply. “I understand why you’re worried, but baseball means a lot to Sawamura. He wouldn’t go easy on someone.”

“Even if that someone is his boyfriend?”

Kazuya gave them a serious look. “Even then. We’ve been looking forward to this rematch for a while now. He’s going to do everything in his power to help us win.”

The first guy scoffed. “Isn’t that easier said than done, though? Sawamura-senpai might let his feelings for Narumiya-san get the best of him.”

Kazuya narrowed his eyes. “It’s true Sawamura likes him, but he wouldn’t let his feelings get the best of him.”

“How do you know? I’m not saying he’ll do it on purpose, but he might do it accidentally.”

Kazuya resisted the urge to tighten his grip on his bat. “If Sawamura does that, he’ll be a failure of an ace and a failure of a teammate.”

This conversation angered him.

At first, he thought it was because these disrespectful first years doubted Sawamura.

(How could they insult his partner like that? Didn’t they know that by insulting Sawamura, they insulted him too?)

That wasn’t it, though.

This first year in front of him reminded him of… him.

Him from last year.

Kazuya had thought everything this first year had been saying and even doubted Sawamura during the game itself.

He hated that this first year reminded him of him.

(Not only did Sawamura prove him wrong, but he had found out how serious Sawamura was about baseball and… Mei.)

Honestly?

He still hated Sawamura’s relationship with Mei.

He still didn’t believe Mei had changed and knew Mei would hurt Sawamura.

(Maybe after Inashiro lost?)

The only thing he liked about their relationship was that…

Kazuya gave them another serious look. “He’s serious about baseball. He won’t let us down.” He frowned a few moments later. “Are you worried about anything else?”

The first guy reluctantly shook his head. “… No. Just that.”

“Then this conversation is over.” Kazuya grinned, his tone light. “If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here for you.”

The first guy looked suspicious. “I get the feeling you’ll laugh at us instead of helping us, though.”

Kazuya laughed. “What? You’re still doubting me after what just happened?” He shook his head. “I’ve got some rude kouhai.”

“You just laughed!”

The second guy groaned, shooting his friend a dirty look. “I’m sorry about him, Miyuki-senpai. He doesn’t mean to be rude.”

Kazuya shrugged. “Unfortunately, I’m used to it.” He gave them a fake grin. “Sorry for interrupting your conversation. I’ll leave you guys alone. Good night.”

The second guy bowed at the waist, forcing his friend to bow with him. “Good night.”

Kazuya turned around, walking away from them. He only took a few steps before remembering something, causing him to stop and turn around to look at them. “By the way…”

The first years froze as his eyes darkened.

“You better not say a word of this conversation to Sawamura himself.” Kazuya tightened his grip on his bat, glowering at them. “And if I hear you insulting Sawamura again, you’ll regret it.”

The first years paled, the second guy flinching.

They bowed at the waist again, bowing deeper this time. “We’re very sorry! We won’t do it again!”

Kazuya strode across the Seidou dormitory, waiting until he left their sight before relaxing his grip on his bat.

He hated the thought of it, but he needed to keep an eye on Sawamura tomorrow.

Not that he wouldn’t keep an eye on him anyway.

Now, though…

He needed to keep an eye on him for a different reason entirely.

A reason he didn’t even think would come up.

(Was that naïve of him? Maybe even conceited? Why didn’t he think of the possibility of his teammates doubting Sawamura after learning about his relationship with Mei?)

Maybe he was worrying too much?

He believed in Sawamura.

The first years made him think of something, though.

What if more of his teammates felt the same and had already cornered Sawamura?

He didn’t want to believe that.

Sawamura would’ve come to him.

(… Right?)

Talking to Sawamura would only make things worse, especially if Sawamura was still angry with him.

He had been planning on returning to his room and looking over Mei’s pitches one more time.

If he couldn’t talk to Sawamura, though, that left him with only one option.

(His best option, really.)

Kuramochi might know something about this, and if he didn’t, he needed to warn him about it.

They didn’t need Sawamura thinking stupid thoughts.

Not when they needed their ace’s pitching to win against Inashiro.

After dropping off his stuff in his dorm room, Kazuya walked through the dorms to Kuramochi’s room.

Turning the corner, he let out a surprised sound as someone bumped into him, the other person letting out a familiar yelp.

“What the hell?” He frowned before blinking, recognizing the person in front of him. “Sawamura?”

Sawamura winced, rubbing his forehead. “What the hell, Cap!”

“You’re the one who bumped into me.” Kazuya gave him an offended look.

Sawamura narrowed his eyes. “Why don’t you look where you’re going!”

“What part of you bumped into me do you not understand!”

Sawamura scoffed, running a hand through his hair, causing Kazuya to stare. “I don’t have time for this. I need to get going.”

Those gestures…

They reminded him of… Mei.

(Was Mei rubbing off on Sawamura that much? Hopefully, Mei’s cockiness didn’t rub off on him.)

“Hang on, Sawamura.” Kazuya forced himself not to frown, his hands twitching in his pockets. “Where are you going?”

Sawamura stared at him for a few moments before frowning. “Boss told me he wants to see me, but I don’t know why.”

Kazuya raised his eyebrows.

Kantoku wanted to see Sawamura?

If he had to guess why…

“Do you want me to come with you?” Kazuya offered. “I’m sure Kantoku won’t mind if I’m there with you.”

Sawamura frowned deeply, looking suspicious for some reason. “Aren’t you going somewhere?”

Shit.

Kazuya needed to talk to Kuramochi, but he also wanted to go with Sawamura, hoping to give him support and somehow melt his anger.

(Not that he had any clue how to do that.)

Maybe he could speak to Kuramochi after going with Sawamura?

Sawamura shook his head a few moments later, causing him to blink. “Don’t worry about it, Cap. I’ll go by myself.” He took a few steps forward before turning to look at him. “Thanks anyway.” He walked away before Kazuya could say anything else.

Kazuya groaned, watching Sawamura walk for a few moments before turning around.

If he didn’t need to talk to Kuramochi, he would’ve joined Sawamura without hesitation.

He didn’t need to worry, though.

Sawamura would be alright.

Chapter Text

Eijun took a deep breath before knocking and opening the door. “Pardon the intrusion!” He walked inside the room, taking off his shoes at the entrance before walking further into the room. “Sir, what can I help you with on this important evening?”

Boss looked serious (as always). “As you know, our game with Inashiro is tomorrow. Furuya will be the starting pitcher, but once the game starts, I want you to get ready, too.”

Eijun blinked before nodding, looking determined. “Yes, sir! I’ll be ready to go in at any moment!”

This was weird.

Somehow, when his teammates told him Boss wanted to see him, he thought Boss wanted to talk about something else.

Maybe Boss only wanted to talk to him about tomorrow’s game?

Speaking of tomorrow’s game, though…

“I’ll be counting on you. It goes without saying I want to see the pitching from the semifinals game.”

Eijun’s eyes widened. His determined look returned a couple of moments later. “Yes, sir! Please leave it to me! I promise I won’t let you down!”

Mei’s Boss…

No, Kunitomo-kantoku had already talked to Mei about their relationship.

After letting everyone on his team know about his relationship with Mei, he thought Boss might want to talk to him about it.

Some part of him had been wondering when Boss would bring it up, but to his confusion, Boss hadn’t said anything this whole time.

He didn’t know what that meant.

Did that mean Boss trusted him?

Boss didn’t say anything about his relationship with Mei when he wore Mei’s game jersey to practice, but Boss also didn’t know for sure about their relationship.

Would he say something about it now?

(It made sense to bring it up now, considering their game with Inashiro was tomorrow.)

Boss knew how serious he was about baseball and about beating Inashiro, but he might want to talk to him about it just in case.

Mei had told him Kunitomo-kantoku talked to him about their relationship. He had looked annoyed, complaining about how Kunitomo-kantoku had some of the worst timing.

(Not that he knew what that meant. Mei refused to elaborate, which annoyed him.)

Mei had warned him that Boss might do the same and to prepare himself.

Not that he didn’t already know.

After talking to Kunitomo-kantoku about his relationship with Mei, he had a feeling Boss might do the same after he let everyone at Seidou know about his relationship.

“One more thing, Sawamura.”

Eijun blinked. “Eh?”

“I wanted to talk about your relationship with Narumiya.”

Knew it.

Eijun furrowed his eyebrows. “What about it, sir? I’d be happy to answer any of your questions and assuage your concerns.”

Boss stared at him for a few moments, causing him to blink. “It’s none of my business who you or Narumiya decide to date.”

Now that he didn’t expect.

“Eh?”

Boss furrowed his eyebrows, scrutinizing him. “It’s obvious your relationship isn’t affecting baseball or school.”

Eijun frowned before nodding. “Mei and I… I mean, Narumiya-san and I promised not to let our relationship affect baseball. Baseball is very important to us.” His eyes widened. “And school, of course!” He rubbed the back of his head.

“I’m glad to hear that. You would say something if he mistreated you, right?”

Eijun frowned deeply. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean. Can you please elaborate?”

Gunsou turned his head to look at him, holding his chin. “He’s asking if Narumiya’s treating you right.” He gave him a pointed look. “I don’t want to imagine it, but Narumiya’s older than you.”

Eijun’s eyes widened.

Were…

Were they…?

“No! That’s impossible!” Eijun gave them a determined look. “Narumiya-san wouldn’t use me or pressure me into doing something I’m against!”

Gunsou almost looked… suspicious. “What about when it comes to baseball?” He frowned before looking away. “Not that Narumiya would need to.”

… What did that mean?

“He respects me! We talk about baseball, but we would never tell each other secrets about our team!”

At least not on purpose.

(They didn’t need to know how he already told Mei information about their team when they first met or when he gave Mei a hint about his breaking balls.)

Boss gave him another scrutinizing look. “Alright, I trust you. As I already said, it’s none of my business who you guys decide to date.” He looked serious again. “If something happens, though, you can come to me.”

Eijun’s eyes widened. He smiled a bright smile a few moments later. “Thank you very much, Boss! I’ll remember that!”

He hated the thought of going to Boss because Mei mistreated him somehow.

While he hoped that never happened, he felt… happy and grateful.

His chest felt warm at the thought of Boss looking out for him.

“Good. I know you’re serious about baseball, so I trust you won’t go easy on them tomorrow.”

Eijun narrowed his eyes. “I would never! Narumiya-san doesn’t want that either!”

Boss gave him a long look, causing him to blink. “Then that’s all we need to talk about.” He gave him a pointed look. “I will remind you, though, to keep your public displays of affection to a minimum.”

Eijun flushed.

Come to think of it…

When did Boss find out about his relationship with Mei?

Was it after the Sankou game?

If so, he understood why he said that.

(At least he didn’t mention the hickeys. Now that would’ve been embarrassing.)

“O-Of course, Boss! I’ll remember that!” He held up a hand. “I promise we won’t do anything to tarnish Seidou’s prestigious reputation!”

Boss didn’t say anything about Mei taking it easy on them.

Did Boss know Mei’s personality?

Was Mei really that famous?

(If he heard that, Mei would look so irritatingly smug. Imagining that smug face and that attractive smirk almost made him make a face.)

… Then again, Boss probably knew because Seidou’s played against Mei twice before.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, causing him to glance at it.

Who could that be?

Wakana and his family had already messaged him, letting him know that like last year, they planned on coming to watch his game.

His heart jumped hopefully.

Was it possible…?

… No.

It couldn’t be…

Boss dismissed him shortly after that, reminding him to go to bed early, causing his flush to darken.

Eijun waited until after he walked down the stairs leading up to the coaches’ office to take out his phone.

Speak of the devil.

Mei messaged him.

His jaw dropped as he read Mei’s latest messages.

My King: That does it! I’m done waiting for you!

My King: I’m going to Seidou right now! You better come out to meet me, or I’ll come find you myself!

My King: You’ve got five minutes before I come find you myself!

He looked at the timestamp of each message, furrowing his eyebrows at noticing the time of Mei’s earlier messages.

Come to think of it…

He had received a couple of messages while talking to his teammates earlier, but he hadn’t wanted to keep Boss waiting, so he had decided to look at them later.

… Hang on.

Mei was here.

At Seidou.

(What was he thinking? What if some reporters saw them? That would give them a lot to write about.)

His eyes widened.

Shit.

What time was it?

He quickly looked at the time, breathing a sigh of relief.

He still had enough time.

Unfortunately, he already knew what Mei wanted to talk about.

Mei deserved an explanation.

(He didn’t like or even mean to ignore Mei, but he didn’t have a choice.)

Hopefully, Mei would understand.

If he managed to voice what he thought, that is.

ZZZ

“What’s this about?”

Eijun looked away from him. “What do you mean?”

Mei narrowed his eyes. “Don’t give me that. You’ve been ignoring me.”

“It wasn’t on purpose.”

Mei grabbed Eijun’s chin, forcing him to look at him. “Bullshit. You’ve been ignoring me, and I know it was on purpose.”

Eijun’s eyes widened before softening. “It’s not what you think. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“If I didn’t do anything wrong, why have you been ignoring me?”

Eijun furrowed his eyebrows. “It’s hard to explain.”

“I don’t care. Explain.” When Eijun tried to look away again, Mei tightened his grip on his chin, glaring at him. “Stop trying to look away from me.”

Eijun stared at him, his mouth opening only to close it a few moments later.

Mei didn’t understand.

Why wasn’t Eijun telling him anything?

Eijun owed him an explanation.

If Eijun didn’t ignore him because of him, why did he ignore him?

That wasn’t like Eijun at all.

Eijun loved talking to him.

“Tell me.” Mei gave him a serious look. “Is it that bad?”

Eijun’s eyes widened. “No, it’s nothing bad, I promise!”

“Is this about our relationship?”

Eijun frowned deeply. “I already told you that you’re not the problem.”

Mei let out a frustrated sound. “Then what is!”

“I…” Eijun tightened his grip around him briefly before giving him a serious look. “I was trying to look out for you.”

Mei’s jaw dropped.

Look out…?

What the hell?

He clicked his tongue. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why did you think you could look out for me by ignoring me?” He frowned deeply as a thought came to him. “Are your teammates giving you a hard time again? If they are, I swear I’ll—”

“No, you idiot!” Eijun glared at him. “Don’t you dare hurt my teammates!”

Mei shoved him up against the tree behind him, causing Eijun to yelp. “Answer the damn question!”

“I’m trying to, but you’re not listening!”

Mei scoffed. “So now it’s my fault?”

“Stop being such an ass and listen to me!”

Mei glowered at him, tightening his grip around him. “Maybe if you tell me the truth, I will. I don’t understand why you can’t—”

“Because I already took my anger out on Cap, and I didn’t want to take it out on you, too!”

They froze, their eyes widening.

Several moments passed, Seidou’s distant yells the only sound around them.

Mei let go of Eijun, furrowing his eyebrows. “What did you…?” He opened his mouth before closing it a few moments later. “I don’t…”

Eijun flushed. “Damn, that was lame.” He looked away, gritting his teeth. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“Hang on…” Mei tapped his chin for a few moments before frowning at him. “Was that why you ignored me?”

Eijun looked back at him. “Yeah, I didn’t…” His voice was quiet. He reached out to touch him, but he stopped before he did, clenching his fist and letting it drop to his side. “I didn’t want to say something I’d regret.”

Idiot.

Mei scoffed, the corners of his lips twitching. “Like anything you say would hurt me.” He grabbed Eijun’s hand, unclenching it.

Eijun glanced at their joined hands before squeezing his hand. “You don’t know for sure.” He looked unhappy. “I know you really well.”

They both knew they could hurt each other if they wanted to.

They knew each other that well.

Mei hated the thought of hurting Eijun, especially on purpose.

He hoped that never happened.

“We’ll never know.” He shrugged, trying to pretend it didn’t affect him, before furrowing his eyebrows. “When did you take your anger out on Kazuya?”

Honestly?

Thinking about Eijun taking his anger out on Kazuya almost made him laugh.

(Did Kazuya do something to earn that? Kazuya’s face must’ve been priceless.)

Eijun shot him a suspicious look, clearly seeing through him. “… Last night.” He looked ashamed. “I even let it affect practice today.” He let out a frustrated sound, looking away from him. “Damn it! I’m so uncool!”

“You let it affect practice?” Mei raised his eyebrows, ignoring the temptation to make a joke.

(Now wasn’t the time. Even he knew that.)

Eijun sighed. “We didn’t talk a lot when he caught my pitches.” He looked back at him, narrowing his eyes at his reproachful look. “Don’t look at me like that. I know I shouldn’t have done that.” He gave him a serious look. “I promise I won’t let it affect our game tomorrow.”

“You better not.” Mei huffed. “Or I won’t forgive you. I want to play you guys at your best.”

Eijun gritted his teeth. “I know, okay! I’m sorry! I…” He frowned, his voice quiet. “You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting to play you guys again.” He briefly tightened his grip on his hand. “I won’t let my feelings get in the way.”

Mei knew how serious Eijun was about baseball and knew how much he wanted to play him (and the rest of Inashiro) again, but he still felt… relieved.

He wanted to enjoy their game with Seidou.

(He wanted to enjoy his showdowns with Kazuya, as this game would be Kazuya’s final game of his high school baseball career.)

Eijun letting his feelings for him (or his anger with Kazuya) get the best of him…

That would put a damper on their finals game.

Besides, their victory wouldn’t be as satisfying if Eijun took it easy on them.

“I won’t either.” He gave him a determined look. “I want you guys to do your best to take me down.”

Eijun grinned a devilish grin. “I’m looking forward to dethroning the king.”

“Like that will happen.” Mei smirked. “You guys can try all you want, but it won’t happen.” He blinked before furrowing his eyebrows a few moments later, belatedly remembering what Eijun said before. “Why did you get angry with Kazuya in the first place?”

Eijun gasped, his eyes widening, as if he forgot what they had been talking about. “That’s not…” He frowned, almost pouting. “It’s stupid.”

“I don’t care. Tell me.”

Eijun gritted his teeth before giving him a warning look. “… Fine. You have to promise not to get jealous, though.”

Mei raised his eyebrows. “Is it that bad?”

“It’s not bad, but…” Eijun let out a frustrated sound. “Just promise!”

Mei’s eyes darkened. “I can’t promise that. You know how I feel about Kazuya.”

“This has nothing to do with him!” Eijun narrowed his eyes. “It has to do with me!”

Mei’s eyes widened.

… Oh.

Now he understood.

Eijun took his anger out on Kazuya because of his feelings for him.

(A part of him still didn’t like how Eijun looked up to Kazuya, but he knew better than to complain about it.)

He clicked his tongue. “I can’t promise I won’t feel jealous, but I promise I won’t overreact.”

Eijun furrowed his eyebrows, scrutinizing him before kissing his cheek, causing him to blink. “Thank you, Mei.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Eijun stared at their joined hands, frowning deeply. “It’s stupid, but I felt jealous.”

Mei forced himself to look at their joined hands and at Eijun, reminding himself not to overreact. He furrowed his eyebrows. “Jealous? What do you mean? Tell me what happened.”

Eijun liked him.

Not Kazuya.

Eijun’s feelings for Kazuya were strictly platonic.

“Cap… He talked about becoming a professional baseball player.”

Mei raised his eyebrows. “Is that so? What’s wrong with that?”

He would’ve been more surprised if Kazuya hadn’t been thinking about that.

“Nothing’s wrong with that, but…” Eijun tightened his grip on his hand, gritting his teeth. “I thought he finally acknowledged me. I thought he finally trusted me.”

… Oh.

Of course.

Mei knew what that meant. He frowned deeply, his heart clenching at Eijun’s frustrated look. “You overheard him saying that to someone else.”

“He didn’t confide in me.” Eijun clenched his fists. “He confided in…”

Mei narrowed his eyes.

Again, Kazuya?

Why didn’t Kazuya ever choose Eijun?

Kazuya always chose…

(If he didn’t already know about Kazuya’s feelings for Eijun, he might’ve suspected Kazuya had feelings for someone else.)

He reached out, unclenching his fists. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s blind even while wearing glasses.” He felt relieved (and a little smug) when Eijun snorted. “I know something that will cheer you up.”

“Eh?” Eijun blinked before looking at him, confused. “Cheer me up?”

Mei squeezed his hand, giving him a serious look. “I won’t make the same mistake.”

“What are you…?” Eijun furrowed his eyebrows for a few moments before gasping, his eyes widening. “Mei, you…?”

Mei nodded, causing Eijun’s jaw to drop. “We haven’t talked a lot about our plans after high school, but I promise you’ll be the first to know when I decide on something.”

“But you…” Eijun looked confused. “I already know your plans after high school.”

Mei’s lips twitched. “I didn’t know you can read my mind.”

“Mei!”

Mei laughed, his eyes softening at Eijun’s dirty look. “It’s true I want to become a professional baseball player after high school, but I haven’t decided on my path yet.”

“Your path?”

Mei grinned, excitement in his eyes. “I haven’t decided which team I want to join or even if I’ll become one right away.”

Eijun raised his eyebrows. “You’re considering going to university?”

Mei understood Eijun’s surprise, as he had been constantly talking about becoming a professional baseball player after high school and had never mentioned going to university.

“It sounds like it would be fun.” He shrugged. “According to Kantoku, I’ve received the highest number of sports scholarships.” His grin turned cheeky. “I’m sure I’ll get more of them after Inashiro becomes the number one team in Japan.”

(That was a lie. Kantoku hadn’t counted how many offers he had received. Eijun didn’t need to know that, though.)

Eijun narrowed his eyes. “You’re not going to beat us! We’ll get our revenge!”

“We’ll see about that.” Mei’s grin widened. He gave him another serious look, causing Eijun to blink. “You’ll be the first to know when I decide on something.”

Instead of looking happy (like he hoped), Eijun looked… suspicious.

When Eijun didn’t say anything for several moments, Mei furrowed his eyebrows. “Eijun?”

Eijun shivered, shooting him a dirty look. “What!”

“You’re acting weird. I thought you’d be happy.”

He didn’t understand.

Didn’t Eijun know how he felt about him?

Eijun huffed. “What are you talking about? I’m happy!”

Bullshit.

“You don’t look happy.”

Eijun gritted his teeth. “It’s just… Why me? If you’re…”

Mei squeezed his hand. “What? Tell me.”

“If you’re…” Eijun took a deep breath before meeting his eyes. “If you’re doing this because you want to rub it in Cap’s face later, I…” He looked down at the ground, clenching his fists. “I don’t want you to.”

Mei’s jaw dropped.

How could Eijun think that?

Did Eijun think that little of him?

(Sure, he admitted that he loved rubbing their relationship in Kazuya’s face, but he wouldn’t go that far.)

He tugged at Eijun’s hand, pouting. “You think that little of me?”

Eijun winced at the hurt in his voice. “It’s not that, but…” He gave him a disapproving look. “You can’t blame me for thinking that. I know what you’re like.”

… Okay.

Mei understood why Eijun thought that, but this time…

“I’m not doing this because Kazuya didn’t confide in you.” His voice was soft. “I’m doing this because I really like you and want you to be a part of my life.”

(All he wanted was to cheer Eijun up. Did he choose the wrong way?)

Eijun frowned deeply. “But…”

“Listen to me.” Mei stepped into Eijun’s personal space. “It’s true I like rubbing our relationship in Kazuya’s face, but private moments like this…” He held up their joined hands, looking serious. “I would never.”

Eijun’s eyes widened, glancing at their joined hands, before softening. “Mei…” He gritted his teeth, closing his eyes briefly. “I’m sorry I said that. I’m such an idiot.”

Mei resisted the urge to agree with him.

(That would only make things worse.)

“I forgive you.” He didn’t like admitting he was wrong, but… “I understand why you felt suspicious. I probably shouldn't have said that after you talked about Kazuya.” He winced. “I’m sorry.”

Eijun immediately shook his head. “It’s not your fault. You were trying to cheer me up. I should’ve known you wouldn’t do something like that.” He blinked, letting out a surprised sound. “That’s right. I never gave you my answer.”

“Answer?”

Eijun smiled a soft smile, causing his heart to flutter. “I’d like that, Mei. I want you to be a part of my life, too.” He grinned a devilish grin. “You’re seriously going to come to me first? I feel special.”

Even though he knew Eijun was joking, Mei kissed him gently for several moments. “You better.” He grinned a cheeky grin. “You’re dating the king after all.”

“You love saying that, don’t you?” Eijun rolled his eyes, the corners of his lips twitching. “Are you going to say that after I dethrone you?”

Mei smirked. “Once a king, always a king. That won’t change even if Seidou somehow wins tomorrow.”

“That sounds like something you’d see in a medieval book.” Eijun grinned a devilish grin, kissing the top of his nose, causing him to make a face.

Eijun didn’t react to his comment about Seidou?

Interesting.

(Maybe Eijun didn’t want to spend the rest of their time reacting to his comments about tomorrow? That didn’t sound like him, though. Was something else going on?)

Mei snorted. “You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?”

“Medieval history isn’t the same thing as old Japanese history.” Eijun shook his finger at him before squinting at him. “Isn’t world history your best subject?”

Mei huffed, resisting the urge to squish his cheeks. “One of my best subjects. Did you forget that?”

Eijun puffed his chest out, looking proud. “I remember everything about you.”

Cute.

“Are you sure?” Mei gave him a mock skeptical look. “It seems like you’re always forgetting stuff.” He gave him a mock disapproving look. “You’re not a very good listener, are you?”

Eijun grinned, a challenging glint in his eyes, causing him to blink. “You want to make a bet about it? I know I’ll win.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

Eijun hummed, tapping his chin. “You could…” His eyes lit up. “You could quiz me!”

Mei laughed despite himself, briefly dropping his head on Eijun’s shoulder and kissing it. “Do you want us to miss our game?”

“It won’t take that long.”

Mei smirked, pointing at himself with his thumb. “I’m a very interesting person, you know. I can easily come up with over a thousand questions about myself.”

“… In that case, never mind.” Eijun made a mock face. “It sounds like a pain.”

Mei gave him an injured look. “That’s so mean! You’re my boyfriend!”

“Yeah, I am.” Eijun’s voice was quiet, causing him to furrow his eyebrows. He wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in his shoulder.

Mei waited for a few moments to see if Eijun would pull away from him and give him a fake smile. When Eijun didn’t move, he frowned deeply, wrapping his arms around him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Mei scoffed. “Like I believe that.”

Eijun clung to him, his hands gripping the back of his T-shirt.

Weird.

Eijun wasn’t the clingy type.

Sure, Eijun never liked saying goodbye to him, but this felt different.

He clung to him like a baby koala clinging to his mother’s back, and much like a baby koala, he refused to let go, as if… afraid he might disappear.

Where did this even come from?

They had been bantering like normal.

Nothing should’ve upset him.

(Eijun would’ve let him know (loudly) if he upset him.)

He didn’t want to even think about it, but…

Did something happen?

Mei poked his cheek. “Come on. Out with it.” His voice was soft. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Eijun pulled away to look into his eyes, Mei’s heart clenching at the sadness in his eyes. “Cap’s conversation reminded me of something.”

Great. Kazuya again.

“Oh?” Mei somehow managed not to frown. “What’s that?”

Did Kazuya make Eijun cry again?

(His hands itched to throw his fastest fastball at Kazuya’s head tomorrow. Itsuki wouldn’t like it, but he didn’t care.)

Eijun briefly tightened his grip around him. “Tomorrow will be your last official game as a high schooler.”

Mei frowned, resisting the urge to correct him. “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. What about it?” He blinked, realizing something. “Wait… You’re upset about that?”

“I know it’s not the same because we’re not teammates, but…” Eijun sighed. “Tomorrow’s our last game. I won’t get to see you stand on top of that mound again after tomorrow.”

Eijun wanting to play against him more during high school made him happy (and a little smug), but… it also irritated him.

Mei clicked his tongue, causing Eijun to glare at him. “Why are you sad when that hasn’t even happened yet?”

“Well, it’s not like I can feel sad about it tomorrow!”

Mei rolled his eyes. “Then feel sad about it later.”

Like after Koushien.

“I can’t! These feelings came to me suddenly, and I can’t ignore them!”

Mei huffed. “You’re such a pain in the ass. It’s not like—”

“You’re telling me you don’t feel the same!”

Mei froze, his eyes widening.

What…?

How could Eijun say that?

He opened his mouth to say something only to close it a few moments later. He let out a frustrated sound. “Look… You and I both know I feel the same.”

“Then why can’t you be more understanding?” Eijun sounded hurt, almost making him wince.

Something didn’t feel right.

Mei understood why Eijun felt sad, but he didn’t understand why Eijun felt this sad.

He let go with one hand to run a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry for not being more understanding. That was wrong of me. You seem to be forgetting something, though.”

“What’s that?” Eijun looked unhappy.

Mei grinned a cheeky grin. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. You always forget stuff.” His grin widened at Eijun’s dirty look. His eyes softened a few moments later, causing Eijun to blink. “You’re right that my high school baseball career is over after this summer, but you know…” He placed one hand over Eijun’s heart. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

Eijun blinked a few times, staring down at the hand over his heart for a few moments before looking at him and furrowing his eyebrows. “What are you…?”

Mei let go of him, grabbing Eijun’s hand and holding up their joined hands. “I’ll still be here, you idiot.” His lips twitched as Eijun’s jaw dropped. “We’ll still be together.” He furrowed his eyebrows. “Unless you thought differently? In that case—”

“No!”

Mei winced at the volume. “Too loud.” He shot him a dirty look. “Do you want everyone around to hear us?”

“No, I…” Eijun laughed softly for some reason. “I didn’t think you’d… I’m happy, Mei.” He smiled one of his softest smiles. “I want us to stay together.”

Eijun thought he… would break up with him after their game?

What the hell?

Why did he think that?

Sure, they had never talked about their future together, but Mei thought Eijun knew how much he liked him and wanted to keep him by his side.

(He thought he had been obvious with his feelings. Maybe it still wasn’t enough? Eijun was an idiot after all.)

Mei would never admit it out loud, but he felt… uneasy.

This feeling even overshadowed his relief.

He wanted to bring up their future together and reassure Eijun he didn’t plan on leaving him.

It was getting late, though.

Tomorrow was their finals game, and he didn’t want Eijun thinking about unnecessary things.

(Not that their relationship was unnecessary, but he wanted Eijun to focus on baseball. Eijun promised him not to let their relationship affect baseball.)

Mei huffed, the corners of his lips twitching. “That’s what I thought. You like me way too much to want to break up with me.”

Eijun flushed, shooting him a dirty look. “You’re lucky we have a game tomorrow, or I would hit you.”

Mei laughed loudly, causing Eijun to scold him for his volume.

They promised they would talk about their future after the tournament.

Tomorrow, they would focus on baseball.

He refused to lose to Eijun.

Honestly?

He didn’t feel worried.

Inashiro wouldn’t lose to Seidou.

While he felt a little worried about Eijun’s reaction to Seidou’s loss, he knew Eijun would be alright.

… No.

Both would be alright because Inashiro (read: Mei) always won.

Chapter Text

Wakana took a deep breath, feeling her heart race.

She wasn’t the one playing, and her heart raced this fast.

She knew why, of course.

Eijun.

Eijun became Seidou’s ace, and although Seidou didn’t plan on starting him, she knew Eijun would play in this game.

Thinking about Eijun playing in this game made her feel excited… and worried.

She didn’t feel worried about Eijun’s pitching, as she remembered his amazing pitching from the semifinals game.

Seidou’s opponent in the finals game, though, was Inashiro.

She still remembered what happened last year and how Eijun left the field.

(She hadn’t been able to see Eijun’s expression that well, but just imagining it made her heart break in two.)

Of course, she knew Eijun had grown since then and wasn’t the same person or pitcher from a year ago.

(She had felt so proud of (and happy for) him when she watched Seidou’s semifinal game. Not that she doubted him. Eijun’s pitching had always been reliable.)

Like Seidou, though, Inashiro probably wanted to win no matter what and would do whatever it took.

Even if that meant… recreating what happened last year.

Would Eijun be alright?

She felt worried about him for another reason, too.

Eijun didn’t talk to her (or his family) all that much, but whenever they talked, Eijun always talked about Mei-san.

He always told her what Mei-san had been up to lately, about how cool Mei-san was, and even about their dates.

(She would be lying if she said she didn’t feel jealous, but she liked seeing Eijun happy and hoped Mei-san kept making him happy for a long time.)

Eijun’s feelings for Mei-san had obviously grown.

She didn’t know Mei-san as well as Eijun, but she suspected Mei-san’s feelings for Eijun had grown, too.

She felt happy (and relieved) she had agreed to meet him over six months ago.

(It would’ve driven her crazy if she had to wait until winter break to meet Mei-san.)

Mei-san obviously cared a lot about Eijun.

Their feelings for each other, though, especially Eijun’s feelings for Mei-san…

She felt worried.

Eijun really liked Mei-san.

(She didn’t know for sure, but it almost sounded as if Eijun’s feelings for Mei-san deepened into something… more.)

Would Eijun’s feelings for Mei-san get the best of him in this game?

Last year, Eijun didn’t let his feelings for Mei-san affect his pitching.

Would that change now that Eijun’s feelings for Mei-san had grown?

She wanted to hope Eijun and Mei-san wouldn’t take it easy on each other.

Baseball meant a lot to both, and they shouldn’t let their feelings for each other affect it.

(She didn’t feel as worried about Mei-san, as she had a feeling Mei-san wouldn’t take it easy on Eijun anyway. That could also be because she didn’t know Mei-san as well as she knew Eijun.)

They saw each other as rivals, and the game wouldn’t be as exciting (or as satisfying) if they took it easy on each other.

According to Eijun, they had been waiting for this game for a long time now.

Eijun had told her in an excited voice how Seidou would get their revenge and how everyone (even her) would be surprised by his pitches.

She shook her head, tempted to slap her cheeks.

What was she doing, not believing in Eijun?

Sure, Eijun threw with his emotions, but he also knew how to turn those emotions into power.

Eijun would be alright.

“Geez, this is Seidou’s side of the stands! I told you we went the wrong way!”

She looked around, noticing what looked like a family of four standing near the entrance to the stands.

A good-looking family who mainly had familiar looking blond hair.

Was that… Mei-san’s family?

The short haired woman pouted. Her hair looked almost as short as Mei-san’s. “Tou-chan, we can’t see Mei-chan from here!”

The only guy (most likely Mei-san’s father) frowned. Unlike the rest of his family, he had short black hair. “It’s alright, isn’t it? Didn’t you want to see Eijun, too?”

“Yeah, but still!”

An older woman (most likely Mei-san’s mother) hummed. “Maybe we should ask someone for help?”

Wakana got up and walked over to them. “Excuse me… I couldn’t help but overhear. Do you need some help?”

They smiled, causing her to stare despite herself.

If their hair wasn’t a dead giveaway, that smile would’ve did it, as that was Mei-san’s smile.

“Really?” The short haired woman (most likely one of Mei-san’s older sisters) beamed. “That’s very nice of you! Thank you very much!”

Wakana stared for a few moments before shaking her head. “Don’t mention it. I’m happy to help.” She smiled softly. “I’m sure Eijun would want me to do this, too.”

“Eh? You know Ei-chan?”

Wakana blinked at Eijun’s nickname.

Eijun had told her about how he had met Mei-san’s family, but he didn’t mention anything about his nickname.

(He had told her how Mei-san’s family all looked like supermodels, something she hadn’t understood at first. Looking at them now, though, she understood what Eijun meant by that.)

She smiled again, bowing at the waist. “I’m pleased to meet you. I’m Aotsuki Wakana, Eijun’s childhood friend. It’s nice to meet you.” She straightened a few moments later.

The two young women smiled, exchanging a look.

Mei-san’s father grinned.

Mei-san’s mother hid her smile behind a hand.

(Was it her imagination, or did they look… amused?)

The other young woman (most likely Mei-san’s eldest sister), who had her hair in a ponytail that stopped a few centimeters past her shoulders, hummed, furrowing her eyebrows and giving her what looked like a scrutinizing look. “My idiot little brother couldn’t stop complaining about you.” She clicked her tongue. “It was annoying.” Even as she said that, though, the corners of her lips twitched.

… Huh?

What did that mean?

Wakana didn’t remember offending Mei-san.

(In fact, she might even say Mei-san had liked her. She remembered how Mei-san joked around with her and made Eijun jealous.)

Why would Mei-san complain about her?

“Mei-chan was right! You’re very cute!” Mei-san’s short-haired older sister giggled. “I can see why he’s worried!”

Worried?

Why would Mei-san worry about her?

Unless…

… No, that was impossible.

(Mei-san didn’t even know her that well.)

Maybe it was because of her close relationship with Eijun?

Eijun had told her about how Mei-san was the jealous type.

Now that made sense.

Mei-san’s father sighed, giving his children an admonishing look. “I understand why you’re excited, you two, but you haven’t even introduced yourselves yet.” He looked at her, smiling an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry about my daughters.”

Wakana shook her head. “It’s alright.”

They introduced themselves to her, Wakana bowing at the waist again when they bowed to her.

“Um… You wanted to get to Inashiro’s side of the stands, right?” Wakana hummed. “In that case… You should exit here and go left.” She smiled at them. “You should be able to find Inashiro’s side no problem.”

Mai-san smiled a soft smile. “Thank you, Wakana-chan. If it wasn’t for you, we’d probably still be walking around in circles.”

(She had tried to be polite and called her ‘Narumiya-san’ at first, but Mai-san had quickly told her to call her by her given name. The rest of Mei-san’s family had quickly followed suit, not wanting her to be so formal with them.)

Wakana shook her head, smiling at her. “I didn’t do much.”

“No, you helped a lot.” Kenji-san smiled a grateful smile. “We haven’t been to many of Mei’s games.”

Wakana blinked. “Is that so?”

Asami-san frowned. “Unfortunately, we’ve been busy with work.”

“I’ve watched a few of Mei-chan’s games!” Akari-san beamed. “None of them were at this stadium, though!”

Wakana furrowed her eyebrows before smiling. “I see. It’s good you were able to come today.”

The Narumiya family (even stern Asami-san) gave her a soft smile. “Yes!”

Shiny.

Their auras and their smiles looked shiny.

They didn’t look as bright as Eijun’s smile, but they shined like the night stars back in Nagano.

“Oi, Wakana-chan!”

Wakana blinked, turning around to see Eijun’s father and grandfather walking up to her. She gasped, belatedly realizing what she did. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before I left!”

Oji-chan shook his head, giving her a kind smile. “Don’t worry about it. We didn’t think you’d go far. What with the game about to start and all.”

“Yeah! You wouldn’t want to miss Eijun’s pitching!” Ojii-chan grinned at her.

Oji-chan looked at him. “You know Eijun’s not starting, right?”

“Of course I do! Eijun’s definitely going to pitch in this game, though!” Ojii-chan puffed his chest out. “He’s Seidou’s ace after all!”

They blinked, seemingly realizing she wasn’t alone and looked at the Narumiya family.

Oji-chan furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t mean to be rude, but that hair color looks awfully familiar.”

Wakana hid her smile behind a hand before gesturing toward them. “They’re Mei-san’s family.”

Oji-chan and Ojii-chan’s eyes widened. They quickly bowed deeply at the waist, apologizing for their rudeness and for not introducing themselves sooner.

“I’m pleased to meet you. My name is Sawamura Eiji, Eijun’s father. It’s nice to meet you.” Oji-chan bowed deeply at the waist again. “I’m sorry my wife can’t be here in person to introduce herself, but one of us had to look after the farm.” Once he straightened, he rubbed the back of his head. “Also, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you guys earlier.”

Ojii-chan bowed deeply at the waist again. “I’m sorry about my idiot son’s rudeness. I’m pleased to meet you. My name is Sawamura Eitoku, Eijun’s grandfather. It’s nice to meet you.”

Kenji-san smiled a kind, understanding smile. “It’s alright. We know how that is. We had to work overtime a few days in a row to come today.”

Mai-san smiled, looking at the field. “It was worth it, though. I’ve wanted to watch one of Mei’s games for the longest time now.” She looked back at the Sawamura men. “I’m also happy to meet both of you. I’m looking forward to meeting Ei-chan’s mother.”

“I’m pleased to meet you. My name is Narumiya Kenji, Mei’s father. It’s nice to meet you.” Kenji-san bowed deeply at the waist. Once he straightened, he gestured to Mai-san. “This is my wife, Mai-san.”

Mai-san bowed deeply at the waist. “I’m pleased to meet you. My name is Narumiya Mai, Mei’s mother. It’s nice to meet you.” Once she straightened, she gestured to Asami-san and Akari-san. “These are our daughters and Mei’s older sisters.”

Asami-san bowed deeply at the waist. “I’m pleased to meet you. My name is Narumiya Asami. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m pleased to meet you. My name is Narumiya Akari. It’s nice to meet you.” Akari-san bowed deeply at the waist, smiling a bright smile once she straightened.

Oji-chan’s eyes widened. “That’s right!” He bowed one more time. “Thank you for looking after Eijun. I heard he stayed the night at your place.”

Ojii-chan frowned deeply before bowing again. “I’m sorry about Eijun. He’s an idiot, but he means well.”

Wakana smiled a soft smile.

“No, no.” Kenji-san gestured for them to straighten. “We’re the ones who invited Eijun. He wasn’t any trouble.”

Mai-san smiled a bright smile. “It’s obvious you raised Ei-chan well. He was very kind and polite the whole time.”

Asami-san frowned deeply. “I still don’t understand what a polite guy like him sees in my idiot little brother.”

“Mei-chan might not be very polite, but he really likes Ei-chan!” Akari-san grinned at Asami-san.

Asami-san sighed. “That’s one of his only redeeming features.”

Kenji-san gave them an admonishing look. “Alright, you two. That’s enough. We’re not alone, you know.” He waited until they apologized before looking at Oji-chan and Ojii-chan. “I’m sorry about them.”

Oji-chan shook his head, grinning. “Don’t worry about it. Speaking of Mei, though… He was very polite when we met him.”

“Eh?” Mai-san’s eyes widened. “Mei was polite?”

Wakana furrowed her eyebrows.

She thought Asami-san and Akari-san had been joking, but after seeing Mai-san’s surprise, she didn’t they were anymore.

Was Mei-san normally that impolite?

Ojii-chan laughed. “He was very polite. You obviously raised him well.” He rubbed his chin. “I liked his honesty, too. More importantly…” He smiled softly. “He really likes Eijun and makes him happy.”

“Yeah, that’s the most important thing!” Oji-chan grinned.

The Narumiya family blinked a few times, Asami-san even looking away at one point.

Wakana’s lips twitched despite herself.

Ojii-chan and Oji-chan (and Oba-chan for that matter) shined just as bright as Eijun himself.

Everyone back home adored the kind, hospitable Sawamura family.

The Narumiya family only got a small taste of the Sawamura family’s kindness and light.

When Eijun and Oba-chan joined them, the Sawamura family became brighter than the sun.

Brighter than any star in the universe.

No one stood a chance against the Sawamura family, and she knew the Narumiya family would be the same.

ZZZ

Kazuya hummed, looking over at Sawamura.

Sawamura stood in the bullpen, warming up with Okumura.

When they had met up earlier this morning, Sawamura had admitted to not getting enough sleep.

He looked alright, though.

From the warmup he got to observe, Sawamura’s pitches looked the same as yesterday.

Kazuya didn’t feel worried about Sawamura’s pitches or his mental state.

He believed in Sawamura.

He did, but…

Sawamura caught the ball with his glove, looking over at Inashiro’s dugout for a few moments before looking at Okumura and holding up his left hand. "Five more!"

(He trusted Okumura. Okumura would stop Sawamura before he pitched too much.)

Sawamura’s relationship with Mei…

Like last year, Sawamura was very conscious of Mei.

… No.

Today was even worse.

Last year, Sawamura had to hide his relationship with Mei.

He didn’t get to openly look at Mei.

This year, though…

Everyone (besides most of the spectators watching the game) knew of their relationship, and Sawamura could openly look at Mei as much as he wanted.

(If someone in the crowd noticed, they would most likely think he looked at Mei as a rival.)

Baseball was important to Sawamura.

Kazuya knew this, and he knew Sawamura would focus on baseball when the time came.

He already knew Mei wouldn’t take it easy on them.

(Something he looked forward to. He wanted to beat Mei at his best.)

Sawamura’s feelings for Mei, though…

He wasn’t an expert on romantic feelings, but it looked like Sawamura’s feelings for Mei had… deepened.

He didn’t know how much, and he didn’t want to know.

(Sawamura’s feelings for Mei had nothing to do with him.)

Even with those deep feelings for Mei, would Sawamura still focus on baseball when the time came?

He almost shook his head at himself.

What was he doing, not believing in his partner?

He was as bad as those first years from last night.

Speaking of the first years…

Kuramochi had looked surprised when he brought up what happened, quickly narrowing his eyes and telling him he wouldn’t let the first years doubt Sawamura.

(Not that they could do a lot about the first years anyway. Only Sawamura himself could prove that he wouldn’t let his relationship with Mei affect baseball.)

Kuramochi had also told him Sawamura hadn’t said anything about that, which relieved Kazuya.

They needed Sawamura in the best possible mental state for their game with Inashiro.

Sawamura yelled, giving Okumura a bright smile before jogging over to him.

They started walking back to the dugout, Sawamura only taking a few steps before stopping and turning to look at Inashiro’s dugout.

Kazuya clicked his tongue.

He had thought this last year, and he thought the same thing this year.

Knowing about Sawamura’s relationship with Mei was such a pain in the ass.

“What’s wrong, Captain?”

Kazuya turned his head to look at Kuramochi. “What do you mean?”

Kuramochi stepped up beside him, snorting. “Don’t give me that. You sounded annoyed.”

“It’s nothing.” Kazuya looked away from him, watching Sawamura again.

Kuramochi followed his gaze, clicking his tongue a few moments later. “Oh, now I get it. It’s annoying, isn’t it?”

“Only because we know about it, and we know who he’s dating.”

Kuramochi hummed. “Is that the only reason?”

What did that mean?

“What other reason could there be?” Kazuya looked away from Sawamura, looking back at Kuramochi and furrowing his eyebrows.

Kuramochi looked back at him, frowning. “Never mind. I’m probably imagining things.”

“Tell me.”

Kuramochi shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. We probably shouldn’t talk about it right now anyway.”

True.

Several moments passed before Kuramochi let out a surprised sound.

“Come to think of it… Did we ever find out where Sawamura disappeared off to last night?” Kuramochi frowned deeply. “He said he needed to talk to Kantoku, but then he never came back.”

Kazuya looked at Inashiro’s dugout, narrowing his eyes. “Like you need to even ask?”

(Whenever he thought about Sawamura meeting up with Mei, it made him angry. He knew why, of course. Mei was the enemy.)

“Eh? Seriously? They met up the night before our game?”

Kazuya looked away from Inashiro’s dugout, rolling his eyes. “Probably? I don’t know for sure.”

Kuramochi scowled. “What was Sawamura thinking? Why would he meet up with him the night before our game?”

“Because he’s Sawamura.” Kazuya felt like scowling for some reason. “He probably doesn’t see anything wrong with it.”

Kuramochi groaned, causing him to blink. “No wonder Sawamura looked sad.”

“Sawamura looked sad?” Kazuya furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember. “I don’t remember that.”

Like most nights, the first string had gathered in Kuramochi’s room, hanging out until bedtime.

Kazuya had noticed Sawamura’s absence, but he had tried not to think about it that much, as thinking about it annoyed him for some reason.

Kuramochi huffed. “It was when he finally got back. He looked sad for a little bit before smiling that fake smile of his.” He clicked his tongue. “He’s such a pain in the ass.”

“I know, right?”

Sawamura probably looked sad because he had to say good night to Mei, but…

What if Mei upset Sawamura somehow?

It wouldn’t be the first time Mei hurt Sawamura.

Honestly, he still didn’t understand why Sawamura chose to stay with him.

Did Sawamura forget about all those times Mei hurt him?

(Sawamura was an idiot, but he didn’t think Sawamura was that stupid.)

Did Sawamura like Mei that much?

He thought Sawamura might look sad (or maybe even angry) whenever he looked over at the Inashiro dugout.

Sawamura, though, looked… determined whenever Kazuya looked at him.

(Of course, he caught Sawamura shooting the Inashiro dugout (read: Mei) longing looks a few times, but those never lasted long. Sawamura wouldn’t shoot those looks during the game.)

Sawamura thought of Mei as his rival and refused to lose to him (and Inashiro) again.

He was one of the ones who had been looking forward to this rematch the most.

Maybe Sawamura didn’t want whatever happened with Mei to affect their game?

“So?”

Kazuya blinked, looking over at Kuramochi. “Eh?”

“Are you going to confront Sawamura?”

Kazuya hummed, looking at Sawamura. “I don’t need to. I would’ve if I suspected what happened affected him in some way, but…”

“He looks alright.”

Sawamura finally looked away from the Inashiro dugout, laughing and apologizing to Okumura, who had waited for him.

Kazuya furrowed his eyebrows, giving him a scrutinizing look. “Yeah, he looks alright.”

Sawamura wasn’t a very good actor.

If what happened last night had affected Sawamura negatively, Sawamura would’ve let everyone know about it.

(Not out loud, of course. Sawamura’s expressive face always gave him away. Like last year when Sawamura and Mei had their fight.)

“Then we don’t need to worry about him.”

Kazuya looked back at Kuramochi, grinning a teasing grin. “You should worry more about yourself. We’re counting on you, leadoff man.”

“Shut up! Just watch me! I’ll get on base!”

Kazuya snickered. “So reliable.” He glanced at Sawamura one more time before turning around. “I’ll be right back. I need to wash my face.”

“Why don’t you wash your brain while you’re at it!”

Kazuya laughed, walking away from Kuramochi. “Roger that, Chee-sama.”

“Don’t call me that!”

Kazuya laughed again before exiting the Seidou dugout and walking to the nearest restroom.

After using the restroom, he washed his face, closing his eyes at the cold temperature.

That felt nice.

Now he could focus on baseball.

“Oh? Look who it is.”

Kazuya froze at the familiar cheeky voice.

Really?

Why now?

He took his time drying his face off, not wanting to look at him, before putting on his sports glasses.

Sure enough, Mei stood near the entrance of the restroom, grinning at him.

(Seriously, why now? They were about to play each other!)

Kazuya furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you doing here? Isn’t there a restroom near your dugout?” He frowned deeply as a thought came to him. “It can’t be… Were you hoping you could meet up with—?”

“No, you idiot.” Mei rolled his eyes. “The restroom near our dugout is temporarily closed for cleaning.” He grinned a knowing grin, as if he knew how Kazuya felt about meeting up with him like this. “This one is the next closest restroom.”

Kazuya doubted that, but he didn’t have time to talk to Mei. “Right. Well, see you on the field.” He walked toward him, stopping beside him when a thought came to him. “You better pitch properly today.”

“Pitch properly?” Mei’s grin widened. “What do you mean by that?”

Kazuya narrowed his eyes at the challenging glint in his eyes. “You and I both know what I mean by that.”

“Relax, Kazuya.” Mei scoffed. “You and I both know how much this game means to us.” He looked serious. “I won’t go easy on you guys, especially you. I won’t let you get on base.”

Kazuya frowned. “You better not go easy on us. I want to beat you at your best.”

“Even if I didn’t play at my best, you guys wouldn’t be able to take me down.” Mei smirked, walking past him and over to a sink.

Instead of leaving, Kazuya watched Mei wash his face.

(It was a little weird they had the same thought.)

Looking at Mei, though, made him remember last night.

He (and the rest of his teammates) had waited for Sawamura to get back from talking to Kantoku, but instead of hanging out with them, Sawamura chose to hang out with—

He clicked his tongue, his mouth opening impulsively. “Is it true you met up with Sawamura last night?”

Mei blinked a few times, looking surprised. “You’re still here? I thought you’d already left.” He dried his face off.

“Answer the question, Mei.” Kazuya narrowed his eyes. “Is it true?”

Mei pocketed his hand towel before looking at him and raising his eyebrows. “Didn’t think you’d be interested in our relationship.”

“I’m not,” Kazuya said automatically. “I’m looking out for Sawamura. You should know that by now.”

Mei hummed, giving him a suspicious look for some reason. “Right. How could I forget?” He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it’s true. Why do you care?”

“Why did you guys meet up the night before our game?” Kazuya furrowed his eyebrows. “Don’t you realize what would’ve happened if a reporter saw you guys outside of Seidou?”

Mei smirked. “A scandal, right? I can see the headlines now.”

… What was wrong with him?

“You keep telling me you care about Sawamura.” Kazuya gave him a suspicious look. "How am I supposed to believe you when you keep doing things that make me believe you don't?"

Why didn’t Mei understand?

(… No, he knew why. Mei only cared about himself, and that would never change.)

Mei made a face, running a hand through his hair. “Look… I didn’t plan on meeting up with him the night before our game. Even I know how that would’ve looked.”

“If you knew, why did you meet up with him?”

Mei narrowed his eyes. “That’s none of your business, and even if it somehow was your business, I wouldn’t tell you anyway.” He clenched his fists. “Not after what you did to him.”

Huh?

Was Mei implying he hurt Sawamura somehow?

When did that even happen?

… Hang on.

Was that why Sawamura had been so angry with him?

“What are you talking about?”

Mei scoffed. “You didn’t even realize you hurt him. I’m not surprised.”

Kazuya narrowed his eyes. “Don’t try to distract me. What were you thinking, meeting up with him the night before our game?”

“I already told you that’s none of your business.” Mei glowered at him. “Why do you care?”

Was Mei stupid?

Kazuya gave him a serious look. “You already know why. I’m looking out for Sawamura.” He shot him a warning look. “If you hurt him—”

“I’m not the one who hurt him!”

Kazuya scoffed. “Bullshit. If you didn’t hurt him, why did he look sad?”

Mei froze, his eyes widening. He opened his mouth only to close it a few moments later. “I… What?” He furrowed his eyebrows. “He… He looked sad?”

If Kazuya didn’t know Mei as well as he did, he might’ve believed Mei’s act.

“He looked sad when he got back.” Kazuya scowled. “That was your fault, wasn’t it?”

Kuramochi, of course, had been the one who noticed Sawamura’s sad look, but Mei didn’t need to know that.

Mei frowned deeply. “I see. He looked sad.” He almost looked… ashamed. “I should’ve known.”

“Should’ve known what?”

Mei shook his head, walking toward him. “I thought I reassured him, but I guess it didn’t work.”

Reassured Sawamura?

Before Kazuya could ask, though, Mei walked past him, exiting the restroom.

Kazuya quickly exited the restroom, furrowing his eyebrows at Mei’s back. “Oi, Mei!”

Mei turned around, furrowing his eyebrows before a serious look came onto his face. “Kazuya, don’t you dare tell him what we talked about. Our game’s about to start. Besides…” His eyes flashed dangerously. “Our relationship is none of your business.”

“It’s my business if it affects his pitching.”

Mei glowered at him before turning around and leaving him alone in the hallway.

Kazuya clenched his fists before turning around and walking back to Seidou’s dugout.

Stupid Mei.

Instead of focusing on baseball like he wanted to, his mind couldn’t stop thinking about his conversation with Mei and Mei’s relationship with Sawamura.

The most irritating part?

He didn’t know why it bothered him this much.

Chapter Text

Mei slammed his right fist onto the bench beside him, causing a few of his teammates to jump.

“What’s wrong with Mei? Wasn’t he excited earlier?”

“Who knows? I hope he doesn’t stay this way.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll snap out of it when it’s our turn on defense.”

“He said something about going to the restroom before the game, right? Did something happen?”

Mei tightened his grip on his paper cup, crushing it.

The mere mention of the restroom made him remember what happened earlier.

Meeting up with Kazuya (of all people) before the game and in the restroom (of all places) annoyed him.

(Why him? He hadn’t been able to stop the hot anger coursing through his veins at the sight of him and had to stop himself from punching him, especially when Kazuya stood beside him.)

He had tried not to let it show on his face, not wanting to lose his temper before the game started.

Like always, though, Kazuya knew how to push all the right buttons to anger him.

(As expected of him.)

Kazuya brought up Eijun.

Of course he did.

(Kazuya’s feelings for Eijun were so annoying.)

He even brought up their meeting from last night.

… Not that their rendezvous was a secret, but he didn’t like how Kazuya brought it up as proof that he didn’t care about Eijun.

He had understood the risks of meeting up with Eijun outside of Seidou, but he had decided that they needed to talk before their game.

(Besides, it was partly Eijun’s fault. If Eijun had responded to him, he wouldn’t have had to go to Seidou in the first place.)

Speaking of what happened last night…

Kazuya said Eijun had looked sad.

He thought he had reassured Eijun, but it sounded like Eijun still had doubts.

They needed to talk about their future together as soon as possible.

He wanted to reassure Eijun he didn’t have any plans of breaking up with him anytime soon.

(Why did everyone (even Eijun) assume he would break up with him after their game? That was so infuriating.)

He didn’t want to hurt Eijun or make him sad anymore.

He gritted his teeth, glowering at his crushed paper cup.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about Kazuya.

It annoyed him when Kazuya tried to force him to tell him why he met up with Eijun.

Not only was their relationship none of his business, but he also didn’t like how… innocent Kazuya looked.

Kazuya didn’t seem to realize he had hurt Eijun.

(Unfortunately, he didn’t feel that surprised, considering what happened in the past.)

Of course, that could be because Kazuya didn’t know Eijun had overheard him.

Something that angered and confused him.

How did Kazuya not realize Eijun’s presence?

Was Kazuya that distracted?

(Eijun hadn’t been that quiet, right?)

Eijun wanted Kazuya to trust him.

To acknowledge him.

But Kazuya only acknowledged…

Mei didn’t have the right words for Eijun.

He couldn’t reassure him or tell him to practice more.

(Kazuya confiding in someone else had nothing to do with pitching.)

He also couldn’t say what he wanted to say because Eijun cared deeply about Kazuya’s opinion and looked up to him.

Well, that and he knew what would happen if he told Eijun his honest thoughts about wanting Kazuya’s acknowledgement.

So annoying.

“Mei-san, are you alright?”

He looked over at Itsuki, furrowing his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“You’re not watching the game.” Itsuki gave him a pointed look, causing Mei to huff and look at the field. “Does this have anything to do with what happened earlier?”

Mei kept his eyes on the field, resisting the urge to cross his arms in front of his chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Liar.

“You’re still angry with Miyuki-san, aren’t you?”

Mei’s eyes widened. He looked at Itsuki, who sat next to him. “How…?”

Sometimes, Itsuki knew him very well.

(Other times, he wondered if Itsuki knew him that well or not.)

“I thought so.” Itsuki frowned deeply. “He touched your cutter after all.”

… Oh, right.

Speaking of things that annoyed him…

Kazuya, that bastard, had no trouble touching his cutter.

Of course, Mei ended up catching the ball in his glove, but he still touched it.

Kazuya touching his cutter soured the end of the inning for him.

(He refused to lose to Kazuya, and he planned on getting his revenge by not letting him touch any of his pitches in all their future showdowns.)

… Hang on.

Did Itsuki think he looked angry because of that?

His relationship with Eijun was none of Itsuki’s business, yet a part of him… wanted to know if Eijun told him anything.

Eijun thought of Itsuki as one of his best friends, and although Itsuki never admitted it out loud, he knew Itsuki felt the same.

(Eijun’s relationship with Itsuki was strictly platonic. He knew Eijun only liked him. It still didn’t stop him from feeling jealous, though.)

Mei scowled. “Yeah, that annoyed me, but that’s not the only reason why I’m angry with him.”

Itsuki blinked, tilting his head. “It’s not?”

That gesture reminded him of Eijun.

Was Itsuki hanging out with Eijun too much?

(Eijun was much cuter than Itsuki, though.)

“Did Eijun tell you anything about last night?”

Itsuki furrowed his eyebrows. “Last night?” He hummed. “He said something about how he met up with you outside Seidou and that you two talked.”

“Nothing else?”

Itsuki shook his head. “He didn’t say anything else.” He blinked before furrowing his eyebrows again. “Did something happen?”

Huh.

Mei thought Eijun told Itsuki almost everything about their relationship.

Was this time an exception, or did he do that all the time?

(He hoped it was the latter, but he didn’t know for sure. Eijun loved talking to Itsuki about their relationship for some reason.)

He clicked his tongue. “I told you guys, remember? That Eijun was ignoring me?”

“Yes, you said you managed to clear up the misunderstanding.” Itsuki frowned.

Mei scowled. “He ignored me because he didn’t want to take his anger out on me.”

“That sounds like something Eijun would do.” Itsuki smiled a fond smile.

Mei threw his crushed paper cup onto the floor. “This whole thing started because of Kazuya, though.”

“Eh? Miyuki-san?” Itsuki frowned again, reaching out and picking up the cup. “What did he do?”

Mei clenched his fists. “Unfortunately, the same old thing. He didn’t acknowledge Eijun and ended up hurting him.”

Itsuki winced, his eyes sad. “Oh, I see. Eijun looks up to Miyuki-san a lot.”

“I don’t understand why, though.” Mei gritted his teeth, glaring at the floor. “All Kazuya seems to do is hurt him.”

Itsuki hummed. “I think a lot of people would say the same thing about your relationship with Eijun.”

Mei’s head shot up. He glowered at Itsuki. “What did you just say?” His voice was quiet, as he didn’t want the rest of their teammates listening in on their conversation.

Itsuki paled, waving his hands in front of him. “Of course I know differently, Mei-san! I know you really like Eijun and hate hurting him!” He frowned deeply. “Everyone else on the other hand…”

Meaning their teammates.

Mei clicked his tongue. “Now that we’re talking about this, I might as well say it. You don’t need to defend me every time our teammates doubt my feelings for Eijun.”

“But… But Mei-san…”

Mei rolled his eyes. “They’re all just jealous. I told you before, right? Eijun and I don’t need their approval.”

“But wouldn’t it be easier?”

Mei hummed. “I suppose you could say that. They would still be annoying whenever Eijun came up, but at least I wouldn’t have to hear them repeating the same thing.” He scowled. “It’s like they think I’m as stupid as Eijun.”

“Then…?”

Mei shook his head. “Just give up. They’re too blinded by their jealousy.” He tapped his chin. “They probably won’t understand until they’re more mature.”

“… That’s ironic coming from you, Mei-san.”

Mei shot him a dirty look. “Hey, I can be mature! I just choose not to be!”

He liked to think he acted mature around Eijun a lot of the time.

(Eijun would probably laugh at him if he said that out loud, but his opinion didn’t count. Eijun was just as childish as him.)

Itsuki sighed, causing him to blink. “I know you said not to defend you, but it’s difficult to listen to them when I know the truth.” He looked frustrated. “It’s even more difficult whenever I remember my conversations with Eijun about you.”

Mei’s chest felt warm, although he couldn’t tell whether that was because of Eijun’s feelings for him or Itsuki wanting to look out for him. “I know it’s frustrating, but you need to learn to put up with them. Nothing you say will change their minds.”

“Yes, Mei-san.”

Mei furrowed his eyebrows. “Speaking of your conversations with Eijun… He really didn’t tell you about what happened last night?”

“He didn’t tell me anything.” Itsuki tilted his head. “Did something happen?”

Mei looked away from him, clenching his fists. “He talked about how I might retire after today’s game.”

“That sounds like Eijun. He must be confident that Seidou will win.”

Mei let out a frustrated sound, running a hand through his hair. “But it was the way he said it. Like…” He frowned deeply. “Like he wouldn’t get to see me after our game.”

Itsuki let out a surprised sound. “Eh? That’s not true. You guys would still be dating.”

“He compared me to his third year teammates.” Mei looked at him, clicking his tongue. “Can you believe him? The nerve!”

Itsuki raised his eyebrows. “He thought you’d leave him after today?”

“Isn’t that crazy?” Mei scoffed. “Like I would break up with him after our game.”

Itsuki frowned deeply. “Maybe he’s…”

“What?”

Itsuki shook his head. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

“Itsuki.”

Itsuki winced, giving him a hesitant look. “Maybe he’s… preparing himself for the worst scenario?”

What the hell?

Mei narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”

Itsuki rubbed the back of his head. “Well, if Seidou wins—”

“That’s impossible. They don’t stand a chance against me.”

Itsuki, the impertinent brat that he was, shot him a warning look. “If Seidou wins, what will you do?”

Seidou winning?

That was impossible.

“I don’t get why you want me to answer that.” Mei rolled his eyes. “Seidou’s not going to beat us. We’re Inashiro.”

Itsuki gave him a serious look. “But what if they do? Eijun will probably want to meet up with you after the game, right?”

Was Itsuki implying…?

“You little…!” Mei glowered at him, his eyes flashing dangerously. “Are you implying I would break up with him?”

He didn’t understand that at all.

Why would he break up with Eijun just because Seidou somehow won?

(The only way Seidou could win was if a miracle happened.)

Did Itsuki (and everyone else for that matter) think he would take his anger out on Eijun after the game?

He wouldn’t do that.

(A large part of him knew the truth, of course, but even if he took his anger out on Eijun, he wouldn’t break up with him.)

… Hang on.

Was Eijun thinking the same thing as Itsuki?

Was that why Eijun clung to him last night?

That hurt.

(Sure, a part of him understood why Eijun thought that, but he mainly felt hurt.)

Eijun thought that little of him?

Everyone (even Eijun) knew he had a temper, but he wouldn’t break up with him because Inashiro somehow lost.

Itsuki winced, looking guilty. “See? This is why I didn’t want to say anything. Mei-san, I—”

“Forget about it.” Mei turned to look at the field, trying to push away his anger. “That’s not going to happen.”

Itsuki sighed. “I’m sorry, Mei-san.”

Mei huffed, keeping his eyes on the field.

If Inashiro somehow lost, and he ended up breaking up with Eijun out of anger, he knew he would regret it.

He really liked Eijun and never wanted to break up with him.

Breaking up with him because he lost didn’t seem right.

… Not that he had anything to worry about.

Seidou wouldn’t win, and if they kept batting like they did in the first inning, they stood no chance at hitting off him.

(Sure, Kuramochi hit off him, but that was just a fluke. It wouldn’t happen again.)

Mei looked toward the Seidou bullpen, noticing Eijun.

Eijun looked the same as always, warming up and cheering on his teammates at the same time.

(Honestly? He felt relieved that what happened last night didn’t seem to affect him.)

They needed to talk after their game.

The sooner the better.

He didn’t want Eijun thinking he would break up with him anymore.

… If Eijun honestly thought that, that is.

Eijun knew him better than most.

He probably already knew Mei wouldn’t break up with him.

Mei frowned deeply.

If that was the case, though, why did Eijun cling to him last night?

ZZZ

Eijun knew he should watch the game, but he couldn’t stop himself from looking over at Mei.

Mei sat inside the Inashiro dugout, watching the game.

Itsuki had sat next to him at one point, and they had a conversation.

He had no idea what they talked about, though.

Maybe the first inning?

It was frustrating to admit it, but Mei had pitched well in the first inning.

(He even managed to get both Haruichi and Cap out with his cutter. Was his cutter that good?)

Not only that, but Mei had also started with a pitching sequence they hadn’t seen before.

So frustrating.

It was so frustrating how good (and cool) Mei was.

(Eijun wished he could throw his curveball and slider. Now those pitches would surprise Mei and the rest of Inashiro. He almost laughed, imagining their expressions.)

He had met (and watched) a lot of pitchers while at Seidou, but all paled in comparison to Mei.

Out of all the pitchers he had met, he wanted Mei’s acknowledgement the most.

Mei would probably say it was because he was the king, but that wasn’t it.

Mei was his goal and rival.

What did he have to do to catch up to him?

Sometimes, it felt like climbing a long staircase.

Mei, of course, always stood at the top, smirking that irritatingly attractive smirk. After a while, he turned around, showing off the ace number on his back.

Eijun always ran up the stairs, reaching out for Mei with his left hand.

The stairs always got in his way, though, the stairs he already climbed magically reappearing in front of him, forcing him to climb them again.

He kept climbing the stairs until he ran out of breath.

After getting his breath back, he started climbing them again.

No matter how many times he tried, though, he couldn’t close the distance between him and the top (read: Mei).

Mei was that far ahead of him?

Maybe another person would’ve given up, thinking it was hopeless.

He never gave up, though.

Even if it didn’t look like he made progress on the staircase, he knew better.

He knew he was slowly making progress.

The proof?

Last year, Mei stood at a much higher level than him.

(That made sense. Back then, he only had his moving fastball. He didn’t have any control or breaking balls.)

This year, though…

While Mei still stood at the top of the staircase, he knew he managed to close the distance between them.

Not by very much, of course, but he knew he got better as a pitcher and got closer to Mei’s level.

He might not reach Mei’s level anytime soon, but he knew he would reach it one day.

Eijun didn’t know how many times he imagined (or dreamed) climbing that last step and grabbing the back of Mei’s jersey.

Mei always looked surprised at first, as if he didn’t expect him to reach him that fast, before grabbing his hand and allowing him to stand beside him.

When Eijun gave him a wide-eyed look, Mei smirked, a challenging glint in his eyes.

Eijun would always grin a devilish grin, briefly tightening his grip on Mei’s hand.

He sighed, looking away from Mei.

That was his…

“Sawamura-senpai.”

He blinked, looking beside him to see Okumura.

“I know you’re feeling restless, but we don’t want you to wear yourself out during the early stages of the game.”

Eijun furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you…?” He followed his gaze, noticing his bouncing right leg. He flushed, stopping himself before looking at the field. “I-I know that!”

“Is he that distracting?”

Eijun frowned, already knowing who he meant. “Yeah, a little bit. Part of it is that he’s our enemy and that we need to take him down to win.” He glanced over at Mei. “The other part…”

“The other part…?”

Eijun frowned deeply. “The other part of it is that he’s right there.”

“Isn’t that obvious? He’s our opponent.”

Eijun gritted his teeth. “No, that’s not what I mean. What I mean is that…” His eyes softened despite himself. “He’s right there. We’re in the same place.”

If he wanted to, he could walk over and kiss him.

Not that he would, of course.

Even he knew how that would look.

(Imagining everyone’s reactions almost made him laugh. He knew, though, that Mei probably didn’t want to tell everyone about their relationship today.)

Besides, they had promised each other not to let their relationship affect baseball.

Okumura probably wouldn’t admit it, but he let out an understanding sound. “You’re used to not seeing him a lot.”

“Yeah.” Eijun’s voice was quiet. “Inashiro is far away. We meet up for our evening dates, but other than that, we don’t meet up that often.”

These past few days, they managed to meet up a lot.

… No.

Even with the summer tournament going on, they managed to meet up a lot.

Normally, though, they didn’t get to meet up that often.

(He didn’t know what it meant. Did that mean both his and Mei’s feelings had… deepened? They didn’t meet up that often last year.)

Okumura hummed. “Have you ever thought it isn’t worth it? You two are busy with baseball and everything else in your lives.”

“I’ve never thought that.” Eijun gave him a serious look. “Sure, our relationship is never easy.” He rolled his eyes. “Especially considering who I’m dating.” His eyes softened. “But I’ve never regretted dating him.”

Okumura furrowed his eyebrows. “Not even today?”

“Are you kidding?” Eijun grinned a bright grin, excitement in his eyes. “I’ve been looking forward to our rematch for the longest time. Our rivalry is a part of our relationship, and it wouldn’t be the same without it.”

Okumura frowned deeply. “You’re not worried?”

Eijun didn’t need Okumura to elaborate.

He already knew what he meant.

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t.” Eijun frowned deeply, clenching his fists. “But I’ve prepared myself for the worst. I hope…” His voice was quiet. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, though.”

Okumura gave him a scrutinizing look before looking at the field. “I hope it doesn’t come to that either, Sawamura-senpai.”

“Thanks, Okumura.”

Eijun felt grateful that Okumura didn’t continue the conversation or try to make him elaborate on what the worst was.

He didn’t think he could voice it out loud.

He hated to think about it, but he also knew it… could happen.

Mei was a confident and prideful person.

He had felt confident this whole time about Inashiro beating Seidou.

He wouldn’t react well to Inashiro’s loss.

Mei had promised him he wouldn’t blame their relationship if Seidou beat Inashiro, and Eijun wanted to believe him.

Mei’s pride was important to him, though.

He always bragged about how he always won.

Eijun had always wondered if he was more important than Mei’s pride.

For him, the answer was obvious.

Mei might not think about it the same way he did, though.

(Knowing that Mei might choose his pride over him… It broke his heart just thinking about it.)

Their future together was already uncertain.

Eijun didn’t want to think about a future that didn’t include Mei.

He didn’t want Mei to break up with him.

That was why he clung to Mei last night.

He knew he acted weird and that he worried Mei, but after overhearing what Cap said, he couldn’t stop himself.

At the same time, though, he couldn’t stop Mei from leaving him.

If Mei wanted to break up with him, he would listen to him.

All he wanted was for Mei to be happy.

Sure, it would break his heart because he wanted Mei to be happy with him, but if Mei decided he wasn’t happy anymore, he would listen to him.

(That didn’t mean he wanted Mei to break up with him after their game, though.)

Eijun was a coward.

Whenever one of them mentioned their future, Eijun always had trouble speaking.

Always had trouble asking Mei about it.

(He knew Mei was trying to look out for them by promising him they would talk about their future after their game, but he almost wished they had talked about it before their game.)

What did Mei think about their relationship?

Was this relationship… temporary?

He didn’t want to believe that, as he knew how Mei felt about him.

He couldn’t help but feel worried, though.

Mei had talked a lot about his future after high school and what he planned on doing.

He never brought up Eijun’s name, though.

Not even once.

What did that mean?

Was Mei being considerate and trying not to assume things about their relationship?

Did Mei feel as uncertain as him?

(Not that he blamed Mei if he felt that way. Dating after high school sounded… serious for some reason.)

Or maybe…

Was Mei trying to send him a hint about their relationship?

If Mei never brought up Eijun’s name, maybe that meant Mei didn’t plan on dating him after high school?

He hated the thought of it.

Didn’t want to believe it.

He wanted to believe in Mei.

If Mei wanted to continue dating him, though, why hadn’t Mei said anything?

(Mei had tried to reassure him last night, and while it felt nice to hear Mei say that, he didn’t know if he could believe him.)

Thinking about it always made his head (and heart) hurt.

Eijun huffed, slapping his cheeks a couple of times, missing the way his teammates shot him strange looks.

Why was he thinking about this now?

They were in the middle of their game.

He needed to focus on baseball, damn it.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Eijun to look away from the field, already searching for Mei.

As expected of Mei.

Even when he wasn’t playing, he commanded Eijun’s attention.

He felt horrible for not believing in Mei.

Mei had told him repeatedly that this relationship was his first serious relationship.

If Eijun felt this uncertain about their future together, he couldn’t imagine how Mei felt.

Mei might take his anger out on him after Inashiro lost, but he wouldn’t bring up their relationship.

Their relationship meant a lot to Mei.

He would believe in Mei.

No matter how bleak it seemed.

He was used to believing in Mei anyway.

Almost everyone around him doubted Mei and his feelings for him.

They always tried to convince him that Mei didn’t care about him, but he never believed them.

He knew Mei and believed in his feelings for him.

No one could convince him otherwise.

Not even himself.

If he still felt these doubts later…

He would speak to Mei about them.

They had already promised to talk about their future together after the summer tournament, so that would be the best time to tell him about his doubts.

He wouldn’t forgive himself if he never talked to him about them.

(Not that he could hide them from Mei for long anyway. He always ended up telling Mei about his feelings and about things that happened even when he didn’t want to.)

Sure, the conversation wouldn’t be an easy one, but it was important.

Eijun would be lying if he said he didn’t feel scared about their future together, but he wouldn’t run away.

Not this time.

He was done running away.

He really liked Mei and wanted to know what he thought about their relationship.

(Mei would appreciate that. He always liked his straightforward personality.)

Their game came first, though.

He didn’t want to feel as overconfident as Mei, but he didn’t think Seidou would lose.

(Not this time. He refused to lose to Mei (and the rest of Inashiro) again.)

Mei wouldn’t be too pleased about Inashiro’s loss, but he would (eventually) get over it.

They might have to wait a few days (because he doubted Mei would want to talk about their future together right after their game), but they would finally get to talk about their relationship.

Maybe he was an idiot.

Maybe he was overly optimistic (or naïve), but…

Nothing could go wrong.

Sure, Mei was prideful and wouldn’t like that he lost, but he wouldn’t dwell on Inashiro’s loss.

Not when they needed to talk.

Eijun looked over at Cap, frowning deeply despite himself.

Cap had looked unhappy when he returned from the restroom, even shooting him a dirty look for some reason.

(That dirty look was uncalled for! What did he do to Cap!)

Looking at him, though, made him remember what Cap said when he first found out about their relationship.

“He will bring up you guys’ relationship when he loses, and he will not hesitate to hurt you.”

What did Cap know about Mei anyway?

He was wrong.

He might think he knew Mei, but he didn’t.

Mei might get angry with him, but he wouldn’t bring up their relationship.

He wouldn’t.

Chapter Text

Wakana didn’t know why she felt surprised.

After talking to Mei-san’s family for a little bit more, they had decided to take their seats, as the game was about to start.

Oji-chan had asked if they wanted to join them, wanting to be polite.

Wakana thought they would refuse, especially when she remembered how they wanted to sit over in Inashiro’s stands and root for Mei-san.

She almost spoke up to say that, too.

Mei-san’s family, though, had surprised her by accepting his invitation.

(What happened to wanting to root for Mei-san? Did they forget about him in favor of talking to Eijun’s family?)

Akari-san hummed, bouncing in her seat. “I don’t know who to root for.”

“I thought you wanted to root for our idiot little brother." Asami-san looked at the field.

Akari-san whined. “I do, but I also want to root for Ei-chan!”

“Then root for both of them.”

Akari-san huffed. “I can’t do that! There’s only one winner in baseball!”

“Then choose one of them.”

Akari-san whined again. “How am I supposed to choose between Mei-chan and Ei-chan!”

Asami-san clicked her tongue. “You’re such a pain.”

“Then does that mean you know who you want to root for?” Akari-san pouted.

Asami-san smiled a gentle smile, causing Wakana to blink. “Ei-chan, of course.”

“Eh! You’re not going to root for Mei-chan? It’s his last summer!”

Asami-san furrowed her eyebrows. “That’s true. I know this means a lot to him.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s going to be so annoying when Inashiro loses.”

“Then why?”

Asami-san frowned deeply. “As his older sister, I don’t want to see Mei cry. But if I had to choose between him and Ei-chan…” She looked serious. “I’ll choose Ei-chan.”

Seriously?

Mei-san’s older sister wanted Eijun to win?

Not Mei-san?

Akari-san’s eyes widened. “Now that you mention it…” She frowned deeply. “I don’t want to see Ei-chan cry.” She hummed for a few moments before looking determined. “In that case, I’ll root for Ei-chan, too.”

Mei-san’s older sisters liked Eijun that much?

(Not that Wakana felt surprised they liked Eijun. Everyone liked Eijun. She didn’t think they would like him this much this soon, though.)

“You’re rooting for Ei-chan, too, right?”

Wakana blinked, belatedly realizing Akari-san asked her a question. “Yes, that’s right.”

“That makes sense. You’re Ei-chan’s childhood friend after all.”

Asami-san hid her smile behind her hand. “His very cute childhood friend.”

Wakana frowned, remembering what they said earlier. “Mei-san talked about me?”

“He talked about you a lot!” Akari-san snickered. “Whenever he did, he always looked so annoyed!”

Asami-san rolled her eyes. “He wouldn’t stop complaining about you.” She scoffed. “It’s like he forgets he’s the one dating Ei-chan.”

“You say that, but Mei-chan’s jealousy is cute, isn’t it?” Akari-san gave her a teasing grin.

Asami-san frowned. “If you mean annoying, then yes. His jealousy is cute.”

Akari-san laughed before looking at Wakana. “It’s true Mei-chan complained about you a lot, but he also talked about how he felt grateful.”

“Eh? Grateful?” Wakana furrowed her eyebrows.

Asami-san huffed. “He didn’t talk about it enough in my opinion.”

Akari-san smiled a gentle smile, her eyes soft. “He said you approved of their relationship.”

Ah.

Now I understand.

“I only got to hang out with Mei-san for one evening, but I could tell.” Wakana smiled a soft smile. “I could tell he cares a lot about Eijun and really likes him.”

Akari-san snickered. “Mei-chan wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he had been hoping you and Ei-chan’s family would approve of him.”

Asami-san frowned deeply. “Only because he knew it would be easier that way.”

“Is that so? I didn’t know that he cared that much about my opinion.”

Akari-san gave her a knowing smirk, causing Wakana to stare. “Well, you are Ei-chan’s childhood friend. I’m sure he wants everyone important in Ei-chan’s life to approve of him.”

That knowing smirk was Mei-san’s knowing smirk.

(Did Mei-san learn that smirk from watching Akari-san? Or was it the other way around?)

Asami-san hid her smile behind her hand. “Even though he tries to pretend he wouldn’t care if they didn’t approve of him.”

Everyone important in Eijun’s life?

Wakana didn’t know Mei-san that well, but that sounded… serious.

She already knew Mei-san really liked Eijun, but he liked him that much?

“Mei-san’s really serious about Eijun, isn’t he?” Wakana’s voice was quiet.

They exchanged an unreadable look with each other before looking at her.

Akari-san reached out, holding her hand and smiling a gentle smile. “I know it might be hard to believe, but he is.”

Asami-san smiled a gentle smile, causing her usual stern face to soften. “Mei probably hasn’t realized his feelings for Ei-chan yet, but we all know he won’t want to let go of Ei-chan when he does.”

His feelings for Eijun?

Did that mean…?

Wakana’s eyes widened. “You seriously think they’ll…?”

“One day.” Akari-san giggled. “We don’t know when it will happen.” She grinned at Asami-san. “I’m sure Tou-chan and Kaa-chan want it to happen sooner rather than later, though.”

Asami-san smirked. “Knowing our idiot little brother as well as we do, though, I think we’ll be waiting for a while.”

Wakana didn’t know why she felt surprised.

Maybe because she didn’t know Mei-san’s feelings for Eijun were that deep?

(She had suspected Eijun’s feelings for Mei-san had deepened into something… more, but she hadn’t known if Mei-san felt the same.)

She bit her lip, glancing at Ojii-chan and Oji-chan, who chatted amicably with Kenji-san and Mai-san. “I don’t think Eijun’s realized his feelings yet either. You still think they’ll…?”

“Well, we don’t know Ei-chan as well as you or Mei-chan, but I believe in what I see!” Akari-san smiled a bright smile.

Asami-san gestured to their parents. “If you’re worried about Tou-chan and Kaa-chan, don’t be. They might say too much sometimes, but they won’t get involved with their relationship or force them if they don’t want to.”

Wakana’s lips twitched. “That sounds like Eijun’s family. They won’t stop bringing it up whenever my family and I eat over there for dinner.”

“Do you think they’re talking about Ei-chan and Mei-chan right now?” Akari-san glanced over at her parents.

Asami-san rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re already making dinner plans.”

“That sounds like something they’d do!” Akari-san giggled. “I hope they do it! We’ll get to see Ei-chan again!”

Wakana laughed softly. “Eijun might have trouble paying attention, though. He was like that when he introduced Mei-san to us.”

“Oh, us too!” Akari-san squealed, causing people around them to look at her. “They couldn’t stop looking at each other! It was so cute!”

Asami-san smiled a gentle smile. “So cute.”

Wakana frowned as a thought came to her. “Mei-san won’t be happy if Inashiro loses. You don’t think he’ll…?”

“He better not.” Akari-san glared at the field, probably trying to glare at Mei-san. She looked as intimidating as a kitten. “He knows what will happen if he hurts Ei-chan.”

Asami-san’s eyes flashed dangerously. “If I hear he hurt Ei-chan, he won’t get away with it.”

Wakana frowned deeply, looking over at Seidou’s bullpen, expecting to see Eijun.

Eijun, however, wasn’t there.

Maybe he already returned to his dugout?

(… Come to think of it, she remembered seeing some of his teammates telling him something earlier, but she couldn’t hear what they had said to him.)

She hadn’t thought about it before, but would Mei-san hurt Eijun?

She wanted to believe he wouldn’t, as he cared a lot about Eijun.

Eijun had told her, though, that Mei-san had a temper.

He warned her not to anger Mei-san, as Mei-san could be scary when he was angry.

Did Eijun know that because he angered Mei-san before?

… Come to think of it, Mei-san had mentioned how he hated seeing Eijun cry.

Maybe it was from back then?

(Wakana had tried to ask Eijun for details, but surprisingly, Eijun only reassured her that Mei-san had already apologized. He had refused to say anything else and made her promise not to tell his family. Little did he know that she (and his family) already knew about how Mei-san hurt Eijun, as Mei-san had told them himself.)

If Mei-san liked Eijun as much as Akari-san and Asami-san thought he did, though, maybe he wouldn’t hurt him?

Mei-san had looked regretful when he talked to her and Eijun’s family.

If Mei-san hurt him, she knew he would regret it.

“Wakana-chan?”

She blinked, looking away from Seidou’s bullpen and at Akari-san and Asami-san. She smiled a fake smile at the concern in their eyes. “Sorry, I wasn’t listening. What did you say?”

Akari-san still looked concerned. “Are you that worried about Ei-chan?”

Wakana gasped, belatedly realizing who she was with. “I’m sorry for doubting Mei-san. That’s rude of me.”

“We don’t mind.” Asami-san shrugged. “In fact, you probably have reason to feel worried.”

Great.

That didn’t reassure her at all.

Akari-san shot Asami-san a dirty look. “Mei-chan probably won’t react well if Inashiro loses, but I want to believe he won’t hurt Ei-chan.” She hummed like a bee for a few moments. “If you’re still worried…” Her eyes lit up. “Let’s meet up with Ei-chan after the game!”

Huh?

Where did that come from?

Asami-san let out a surprised sound. “Huh, that’s a good idea.”

“Why do you sound surprised!” Akari-san whined.

Asami-san ignored her, looking at Wakana. “Ei-chan won’t have a lot of time after his game, but he’ll probably have enough time for a quick conversation.”

“If Mei-chan doesn’t steal all of Ei-chan’s time,” Akari-san murmured.

Ojii-chan and Oji-chan probably wouldn’t mind if she talked to Eijun for a little bit after the game.

She wouldn’t talk to him long.

Just long enough to make sure he was alright.

Wakana smiled softly. “Alright, let’s do it. I’m sure he’ll be surprised to see you two here.”

“I didn’t think about that!” Akari-san gasped, her eyes widening. She giggled. “I can’t wait to see his face!”

Asami-san scoffed, the corners of her lips twitching. “You’re such a child. Aren’t you supposed to be older than our idiot little brother?”

“That’s what Tou-chan and Kaa-chan say!” Akari-san stuck her tongue out at her.

Wakana furrowed her eyebrows. “Are you two going to see Mei-san after the game, too?”

They blinked, as if that thought didn’t even occur to them.

“While it would be fun to see his face, I don’t know if he’ll have any time.” Akari-san pouted.

Asami-san hummed. “He’ll probably get some time off after today. We’ll wait until he goes home.”

Wakana almost felt sorry for Mei-san.

… Then again, if Mei-san ended up hurting Eijun, maybe he deserved it.

She wouldn’t say it out loud, but she felt… relieved Akari-san brought up meeting up with Eijun after the game.

Seidou didn’t bat too well in the first two innings, but she wanted to believe in them.

Wanted to believe they would hit off Mei-san and win.

She didn’t want to watch Seidou (read: Eijun) lose again.

Seidou would win.

She was looking forward to seeing Eijun’s expression after the game.

ZZZ

After what happened earlier, Eijun knew he should focus on their game and focus on cheering for his teammates.

He had been doing well, too.

(He had cheered for Toujou when Toujou stopped Kamiya-san from making it home, and he had also encouraged Furuya while giving him a cup of water.)

Mei, though, had always commanded his attention.

This time was no exception.

He had thought he could cheer for his teammates when the third inning started.

Mei, though, made it clear with his pitching that he didn’t want him to look away.

(As expected of him, really. Mei always loved having his attention. Eijun would bet that during those rare moments Mei didn’t focus on the game, he thought (smugly) about how Eijun couldn’t look away from him.)

His pitching during the third and fourth innings…

Eijun hadn’t seen anything like it.

At first, he thought it might be because Mei hadn’t fully warmed up yet.

Maybe that was part of it, but his pitching seemed to… get better.

Maybe even evolve?

(He already knew Mei would brag about the speed of his pitches the next time they met up. So frustrating.)

Mei was already a great pitcher.

He knew this, and it was one of the reasons why he looked up to him so much.

Even last year, Mei had been a great pitcher who stood in their way.

Eijun remembered watching Mei jog back to his dugout after pitching all nine innings.

He would never forget Mei’s expression.

Mei had looked serious and determined, the fire in his eyes still lit.

That’s Inashiro’s ace.

What a real ace looks like.

He remembered thinking that back then.

Mei had believed in his teammates and never gave up.

Inashiro came through for him.

For their ace.

(It was Eijun’s fault Seidou lost, of course. Inashiro wouldn’t have won, though, if they gave up.)

Even back then, Mei had possessed a certain majesty that no one could ever hope to steal or imitate.

(That was before Koushien, too. Mei would probably brag about how he had been royalty his whole life, but no one had known about it until Koushien.)

Mei’s aura…

Eijun had felt it when he first met him and when he stumbled across him in the city.

Mei drew people to him.

People couldn’t ignore his superstar aura.

… Not that he would ever admit that to Mei himself.

It was the same aura, but Mei’s aura grew whenever he pitched.

(Probably because Mei was serious about pitching. His normal childish personality always disappeared, leaving behind a more serious (and mature) personality. Well, most of the time anyway.)

Mei shined as bright as a star.

It might hurt to look at him, but he couldn’t look away.

It reminded him of one of the times he stayed up late to practice.

After Eijun had finished practicing and cleaned up, he had walked over to the field for some reason.

He had stood on top of the mound, looked up at the stars and… reached for them with his left hand.

How long would it take to reach Mei’s level?

What did he have to do to reach Mei’s level?

The stars always shined bright and taunted him from their place in the sky.

Always taunting him by saying he wasn’t good enough.

Always taunting him by saying they would go ahead of him.

Always taunting him by staying out of reach.

But that…

That was Mei.

Mei never took it easy on him and always stayed out of his reach.

He wouldn’t wait for him.

He continued moving forward.

Continued getting better.

Continued moving farther ahead of him.

Continued getting closer to his goal of becoming Japan’s number one pitcher.

Today’s pitching, though…

Today’s pitching felt… different.

Mei always pitched like a true ace.

Even last year, Eijun had felt that Mei pitched like that to show him (and the rest of his pitcher teammates) his pride as the ace.

Each of those pitches conveyed a message.

This is what a true ace looks like.

Today was no exception.

Mei pitched like a true ace.

Not only that, but he threw everything he had at the batters.

His pride as the ace…

No.

He threw all his feelings at the batters.

He stood up straight, not crumbling under the pressure, those determined eyes focused on the batter and winning this game.

Wanting to prove he was the king.

Eijun found himself watching with his mouth open, standing as close to the railing as possible. He rested his left hand on top of the railing, his left hand forming a fist and hovering halfway off the railing.

Honestly?

He… couldn’t look away from Mei and his pitching.

He knew he should cheer for his teammates, but Mei wouldn’t let him.

(Who stood in the batter’s box for Seidou right now? Which pitches did Mei throw? What was the count? He didn’t know any of that. All he focused on was Mei standing on the mound.)

Mei and his pitching grabbed him and wouldn’t let go.

Like Mei grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at him.

Eijun wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he felt so jealous of Furuya.

Furuya got to stand on the same mound as Mei.

Furuya got to pitch right after Mei and respond to his pitching.

That should be him.

He should be the one pitching for Seidou right now.

Not Furuya.

Boss didn’t choose him to start today, though.

He chose Furuya.

So frustrating.

Wasn’t he the ace?

Eijun might be the ace, but he was nothing like Mei.

Boss didn’t trust him like Kunitomo-kantoku trusted Mei.

It frustrated him to admit it, but that made sense.

He had just become the ace this summer.

Boss might trust him enough to give him the ace number, but that didn’t mean he became Seidou’s true ace.

Not only had Mei been the ace much longer than him, but he had proved time and time again why he was Inashiro’s unparalleled ace.

Maybe he was an idiot.

Maybe he had been overly optimistic (or naïve), but…

Eijun had been dreaming about having a pitcher’s duel with Mei.

(Mei wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he knew Mei had been wanting that, too.)

Eijun finally became the ace, and he managed to do it during Mei’s last summer.

He had been looking forward to their rematch with Inashiro for the longest time.

Thinking about having a pitcher’s duel with Mei during said rematch always excited him.

He would finally get to have a pitcher’s duel with Mei.

They would get to stand on the mound as the ace of their respective teams and pitch against each other.

(Sure, Eijun might not stand a chance against Mei right now, but he had been looking forward to finding out how close he was to him.)

He still remembered his pitcher’s duel with Amahisa-san and couldn’t wait to experience something like it with Mei.

Boss, however, chose Furuya.

Eijun gritted his teeth, clenching his fists tighter.

He knew it was stupid, but he couldn’t stop the jealousy.

It wasn’t fair.

Furuya got to have… the pitcher’s duel with Mei that he had been wanting to have for the longest time now.

Mei watched Furuya and responded to his pitching.

He wouldn’t look at Eijun right now.

Not when he needed to focus on Furuya’s pitching.

(Everyone chose Furuya. It was so frustrating.)

Eijun knew, though, that even if Mei didn’t look at him right now, Mei still thought about him.

Mei liked him.

Not Furuya.

He nodded, taking a deep breath and relaxing.

Trying to push all that stupid jealousy away.

Besides, it wasn’t like Eijun wasn’t going to pitch today.

Cap even told him yesterday to wait for the time they needed his ability and skill as their ace and to save his strength.

Eijun wouldn’t get to have the pitcher’s duel he wanted to have with Mei, but maybe he would get to pitch a few innings?

When that time came, he wouldn’t let his teammates or Boss down.

Mei getting better and stronger only made things more interesting.

It made him an opponent worth taking down.

Eijun and the rest of his teammates had been working hard to take him down.

They would finally do it during this game.

Everyone had looked serious (besides Kuramochi-senpai who looked frustrated for some reason), so he had decided to encourage them like he always did.

Everyone seemed to perk up at his encouragement, so he considered that a success.

Mei getting better and stronger also made him a worthy rival and goal.

It would be boring if Eijun could easily catch up to Mei.

He chose Mei as his rival and goal because Mei was so much better than him.

Mei was already so far ahead of him that he could barely see him.

He might not have a clear image of that strong and confident back, but he could still see him.

Now that he could see him, he refused to lose sight of him.

Chapter Text

Something felt missing.

Mei didn’t know what it was.

He had been enjoying the game so far, especially his showdowns with Kazuya.

(Kazuya had another thing coming if he thought he could hit his pitches.)

He had also been enjoying his pitcher’s duel with Furuya.

(He couldn’t say he enjoyed (or admired) Furuya’s pitching, though. Didn’t Furuya know anything about pacing himself?)

Something still felt missing, though.

It was strange to feel this way in the middle of the game, especially a game as important as this one.

He clicked his tongue, watching as one of his teammates struck out swinging.

It almost felt like he wanted something… more.

What, though?

More from Furuya?

… No, that didn’t sound right.

More from his pitcher’s duel with Furuya?

That didn’t sound right either.

He (and the rest of his teammates) had been expecting Furuya to start, and he had simulated his pitches.

Something felt wrong, though.

Not with Furuya.

Other than not pacing himself well, Furuya had been pitching well so far.

(Well, not the whole time. He still gave away too many walks.)

Not with him either.

In fact, he felt on top of his game.

Seidou couldn’t touch his pitches right now.

(Those lucky hits they got didn’t count.)

He didn’t know what felt wrong.

“Mei-san?”

He looked over, noticing Itsuki standing near him. “What is it, Itsuki?”

Itsuki furrowed his eyebrows. “Are you alright?”

Huh?

“Why do you ask?”

Itsuki glanced at the field. “It’s just… You seemed deep in thought about something.”

Perceptive.

“Something feels wrong.”

Itsuki’s eyes widened. He stepped closer, looking concerned. “With you, Mei-san?”

Mei rolled his eyes. “Not with me. With…” He tapped his chin before gesturing toward the field. “With this game.”

Itsuki blinked a few times, clearly not expecting that. “This game?” He furrowed his eyebrows. “Do you mean with Seidou?” He looked at the Seidou dugout. “It looks to me they’ve been taking this seriously.”

“Not with Seidou.” Mei made a face. “I can’t explain it well, but something feels wrong.”

Itsuki frowned at the floor, clearly thinking about something. He looked up several moments later with a knowing glint in his eyes. “Is it because of Seidou’s pitcher?”

Seidou’s pitcher?

Furuya?

“That guy’s not pacing himself well.” Mei scoffed. “We’ll start scoring runs off him soon enough.”

Itsuki still had that knowing glint in his eyes. “Because he’s Furuya, right?”

What did that even mean?

That knowing glint in his eyes made his eye twitch.

Who did Itsuki think he was?

(So impertinent.)

Mei got up, huffing. “Of course it’s because he’s Furuya. What are you saying?” He walked over to the water pitcher, grabbing some more water. “You’re acting weird again.”

Seriously, why did Itsuki talk about Furuya like that?

Furuya would break down soon enough and would regret not pacing himself.

It was only a matter of time.

He didn’t know why Seidou chose to start Furuya.

(Did they think Inashiro couldn’t hit Furuya’s fast pitches?)

Seidou had other pitchers, damn it.

Like…

Mei’s eyes widened. He glanced at the Seidou dugout before looking at Seidou’s bullpen. He blinked a few times, almost looking away at how bright the sun was.

Oh.

Now I understand.

Shit.

He was an idiot.

How could he forget about Seidou’s sun?

His boyfriend?

Seidou’s ace?

Sure, he had been focusing on the game and enjoying his pitcher’s duel with Furuya, but that was no excuse.

That feeling earlier about wanting something more…

Something feeling missing…

It was because Eijun wasn’t pitching yet.

Like Eijun, he had been looking forward to this rematch for a while now.

(Of course, he didn’t think Eijun would become the ace this soon, but Eijun always managed to surprise him.)

Eijun was nowhere close to him and wasn’t ready for a pitcher’s duel with him.

A part of him, though, had been… looking forward to having a pitcher’s duel with him.

(Not that he would ever admit that to Eijun.)

He had thought about it even more after watching Eijun’s pitcher’s duel with Amahisa.

(No, he didn’t feel jealous. That would be ridiculous.)

After watching Eijun’s pitcher’s duel with Amahisa, he remembered thinking he might enjoy a pitcher’s duel with Eijun.

Eijun would have to be on top of his game, though.

He wanted to see Eijun’s ace-like pitching again.

They hadn’t talked about it a lot, but they were both the ace of their respective teams.

One would think they would get to face off, especially during an important game such as this.

Seidou, however, chose to start Furuya.

What about Eijun?

Sure, Eijun wasn’t Seidou’s true ace yet, but Seidou didn’t want their ace to start?

Was Eijun that tired?

He sure didn’t look tired.

He kept throwing pitches in the bullpen and shining that bright light of his.

… Then again, the semifinals were two days ago.

Eijun probably got enough rest after the game.

Maybe Seidou’s coaching staff felt worried about Eijun’s stamina?

(Eijun wasn’t him. While he could pitch in the semifinals and the finals no problem, Eijun would probably struggle.)

Mei looked away from Eijun, tightening his grip on his cup.

That didn’t change how he felt, though.

He… wanted Eijun to pitch.

Wanted to face off against him.

Wanted to hit his pitches.

(This year, Eijun wouldn’t strike him out. He would hit off Eijun.)

He knew Eijun felt the same.

Knew Eijun had been looking forward to their pitcher’s duel.

(Eijun had tried to keep it a secret, but he couldn’t hide anything from him for long.)

Eijun probably felt jealous of Furuya.

To him, it felt like everyone chose Furuya over him.

Again.

(What was with everyone’s fascination with Furuya? Sure, Furuya could throw fast and bat well, but he was nothing like Eijun. Or him for that matter.)

His eyes darkened.

He would never choose Furuya over Eijun, and he hoped Eijun knew that.

When they first started dating, Eijun’s jealousy of Furuya had been cute.

(Honestly? It was still very cute. A jealous Eijun was a very cute Eijun.)

He had enjoyed seeing Eijun jealous and mentioned Furuya’s name multiple times to see his reaction.

Eijun had always looked unhappy, shooting him an almost… betrayed look at times. He had always tightened his grip on his hand, as if not wanting him to let go.

Let go and… leave him for Furuya.

(That would never happen. He only liked Eijun.)

… Now that he thought about it, though, maybe he did something bad.

Eijun had probably doubted his feelings for him a lot back then.

Maybe he even wondered why he still dated him?

His eyes widened.

Shit.

Was that why Eijun clung to him last night?

Did Eijun still doubt his feelings for him?

Mei shook his head, resisting the urge to hit himself.

Eijun knew how he felt about him.

Eijun knew he had only brought up Furuya so much because he had been interested in Furuya as a pitcher.

If Eijun knew how he felt about him, though, why did he cling to him last night?

… Thinking about this made his head (and heart) hurt.

(Something he didn’t need during an important game such as this one.)

Besides, it was just as much Eijun’s fault as it was his.

Eijun wouldn’t stop talking about Kazuya and always reacted to whatever Kazuya said or did to him.

It had made him wonder if Eijun’s feelings for Kazuya had truly disappeared.

He trusted Eijun, though.

Believed in his feelings for him.

Those feelings were genuine and for him.

They might not get to have the pitcher’s duel Eijun wanted to have, but he hoped Eijun got to pitch for a few innings.

Their victory wouldn’t be as satisfying if they didn’t get to play against Eijun.

Not only because Eijun was his boyfriend and rival, but because Eijun was Seidou’s ace.

Seidou couldn’t beat them without their ace.

(Not that Seidou would beat them. If they wanted a chance at winning, though, they needed Eijun to pitch at some point during this important game.)

They couldn’t rely on Furuya, a pitcher who didn’t know how to pace himself.

Furuya would break down soon enough.

None of Seidou’s other pitchers could take Furuya’s spot.

Seidou needed Eijun.

Inashiro scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning.

(About time. He didn’t know why they struggled to hit off Furuya that badly.)

Unfortunately, Seidou’s fine play cut off their building momentum.

So annoying.

Once the scheduled field maintenance finished, Mei jogged over to the mound, picking up the ball and tossing it up and down.

While waiting for Itsuki to get into position, he turned and looked over at Seidou’s bullpen.

He didn’t know how.

Maybe it was their connection?

Maybe Eijun couldn’t stop looking at him?

How it happened didn’t matter.

Eijun’s eyes widened when they met his own.

He smirked, knowing Eijun saw it when he narrowed his eyes.

Eijun raised his left hand, pointing at him before forming a fist, looking determined.

Huh~

Mei stuck his tongue out at him, amused when Eijun’s jaw dropped. He turned back to face Itsuki, catching the ball.

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to seeing Eijun’s pitching.

For that to happen, though, they needed to take down Furuya first.

ZZZ

It was time.

Finally.

Eijun raised his left hand, forming a fist and clenching it before relaxing.

He had been (patiently) waiting for his turn.

Itching to start playing.

Itching to stand on the same mound as Mei.

It was finally here.

Like last year, he got his turn in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The spectators’ and Seidou supporters’ reaction surprised him.

He hadn’t been expecting that much support.

(Did his pitcher’s duel with Amahisa-san make a difference?)

He looked down at the mound, smoothing the dirt with his foot.

He finally got his chance to stand on the same mound as Mei.

Mei retired from high school baseball after this game, so this would be the last time he got to stand on the same mound as him.

While he still didn’t know about his future (or Mei’s future for that matter), he knew one thing.

He wanted to stand on the same mound as Mei again.

Whether that meant as enemies or teammates, he didn’t know.

Playing as enemies again would be a lot of fun.

Playing as teammates, though…

What did Mei think about that?

If he told Mei he wanted to join the same team as him, would Mei look happy?

He wouldn’t look... troubled by it, right?

After Eijun warmed up, Cap jogged over to talk to him.

Cap held his mitt up to his mouth, Eijun expecting him to tease him or comment on the cheers.

“Are you nervous?”

Eijun blinked a few times before furrowing his eyebrows. He held his glove up to his mouth, humming. “A little, but…” He looked over at the Inashiro dugout, meeting several Inashiro players’ determined (but also pleased) eyes. His eyes widened as he met Mei’s eyes. He narrowed his eyes at his smirk before looking at Cap again. “I’m ready. I’m not the same pitcher I was last year.”

Cap grinned a teasing grin. “If you were, I would feel worried.”

“Shut up. You know what I mean.”

Cap snickered before giving him a serious look, causing him to blink. “You’re ready to pitch against all of Inashiro’s batters, right?”

He knew what Cap meant by that.

Honestly?

He had expected Cap to say something like that.

“Don’t worry, Cap.” Eijun gave him a confident grin. “I made sure to memorize all the Inashiro batters and their preferences. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while now.” He narrowed his eyes. “There’s no way I’m going to lose to them.”

Cap gave him a scrutinizing look for a few moments before nodding and holding up his mitt. “Then I’m counting on you, Ace!”

(Ace… Cap called him ace. That made him feel so good. He had to tell Mei about this later.)

Eijun raised his glove, letting it lightly tap Cap’s mitt. “Yes, sir!”

He couldn’t stop the excited grin.

Jinjin (or Jinguuji to everyone else) grinned back at him, excitement in his eyes.

(Mei had looked betrayed the first time he called Jinjin by his nickname. Eijun had tried to explain it didn’t mean he felt closer to him than to Mei, but Mei, the jealous brat that he was, refused to listen.)

Jinjin probably thought he felt excited to face off against him.

While he felt excited to face off against him, he mainly felt excited about pitching.

About standing on the same mound as Mei and Furuya.

About playing against Inashiro.

He would finally get his revenge and overcome last year’s game.

He had been looking forward to this rematch for the longest time.

Cap (and a lot of his other teammates) probably felt worried about his emotions and whether he would pitch properly against them.

It frustrated him to admit it, but he understood.

Not only was he dating Inashiro’s ace, but he got along well with the rest of the Inashiro first string.

Cap probably knew (or guessed) he had visited Inashiro in the past and got along well with them.

Cap didn’t have anything to be worried about, though.

Like last year, he didn’t plan on taking it easy against them.

It didn’t matter if he got along well with them.

He would take them all down.

Simple as that.

Of course, it wasn’t until after he started pitching that he realized he forgot to take deep breaths.

Mei probably laughed at him over in the Inashiro dugout, but he didn’t care.

Taking deep breaths was a part of his routine.

Like always, taking deep breaths helped relax him.

He managed to retire Jinjin with his splitter custom.

Not even his glove could hide his evil grin.

(Cap gave him a strange look, but he didn’t care.)

Sure, Jinjin might be a batter on the bottom of the lineup, but he managed to get him out with his splitter custom.

In your face, Mei.

Suguru stepped into the batter’s box next, grinning at him.

Eijun always enjoyed his conversations with Suguru, although he wasn’t as close with Suguru as he was with Itsuki.

Mainly because Suguru was one of the guys who still hadn’t fully accepted his relationship with Mei.

Not that Eijun held that against him or treated him differently because of it.

It was just… difficult to talk to Suguru sometimes.

He could talk to Itsuki about anything.

Even his relationship with Mei.

He couldn’t do that with Suguru, Suguru always making a face or saying some disrespectful comment about Mei whenever he tried talking about his relationship with Mei.

He had still been looking forward to going against him, though.

He managed to retire Suguru with his cutter custom.

Mei wasn’t the only one who had a great cutter.

Kamiya-san was the last batter to step into the batter’s box.

Kamiya-san gave him an excited grin before looking determined. He started crowding the plate, causing Eijun’s eyes to widen.

Eijun had expected this.

He had expected Inashiro would mount a psychological attack on him by trying to recreate what happened last year.

(Honestly, he had expected this from Shirakawa-san. Not Kamiya-san.)

They would do whatever it took to win this game.

They had already proved that last year.

Eijun respected Kamiya-san and enjoyed talking to him. He always felt happy and grateful whenever Kamiya-san looked out for him.

(Sure, he tended to strip way too much and liked making provocative comments, especially whenever he and Mei were in the same room. Kamiya-san was very kind, though.)

Kamiya-san wanted to hit off him, and he probably felt even more determined to hit off him after what happened last year.

Eijun wouldn’t let him, though.

He wanted to show not only Kamiya-san and Shirakawa-san, but the whole Inashiro team that even if they tried to recreate what happened last year, he wouldn’t be affected by it.

That he had gotten better.

(He wasn’t a first year anymore. They couldn’t overwhelm him with their pressure.)

He was an entirely different pitcher compared to last year.

Kamiya-san seemed to understand that, as he switched back to his usual batting stance.

Eijun managed to retire Kamiya-san, but he didn’t allow himself to celebrate it that much.

He had thrown his last pitch a bit too high.

He had to be careful with his pitches from now on.

Before stepping off the field, he turned around, looking at the Inashiro dugout.

As expected, Kamiya-san looked frustrated.

He looked over at Mei, blinking when Mei’s eyes met his.

Mei smirked, tilting his chin condescendingly. That annoying challenging glint entered his eyes.

Eijun knew what that meant.

Bring it on.

He huffed, turning back around and leaving the field, entering Seidou’s dugout.

If Mei wanted a fight, he would give him one.

ZZZ

A part of Mei felt irritated that they couldn’t take down Furuya and that Furuya ran away before they could finish their pitcher’s duel.

A much larger part of him, though, felt happy when Seidou announced a pitcher substitution.

Because that meant only one thing.

Eijun.

Sure enough, Eijun jogged onto the field as loud as ever.

Finally.

“Took him long enough.”

Mei blinked, looking around and noticing his teammates looking at Eijun.

At first, he thought he had said that out loud.

Carlos, though, grinned at the rest of their teammates. “I think that’s what we’re all thinking, right?”

Ah.

Never mind.

Carlos must’ve said that.

So annoying.

It was so annoying how everyone had the same thought as him.

(Not that he felt surprised. His whole team (even those not on the first string) liked Eijun.)

“I’ve been waiting for this moment.” Yabe held a bat, looking determined.

Carlos snorted. “You know you’re not batting this inning, right?”

“Shut up, Carlos! I’ll get to face off against him later!”

Katsuyuki clicked his tongue. “Don’t listen to him. He’s just trying to brag about how he gets to bat this inning.”

Carlos grinned at him. “Was it that obvious?”

Jinguuji raised a hand, looking way too smug. “You guys realize I’m the first batter of this inning, right?”

Mei somehow managed to stop himself from shooting him a dirty look.

(It had nothing to do with Eijun’s detestable nickname for Jinguuji. He just looked too smug for a second year.)

“You’re too cocky!” Yabe narrowed his eyes at him. “You’re not allowed to be that cocky when you’re just a second year!”

Jinguuji looked at the field, blinking before grinning. “Eijun’s looking this way.”

“What! He is!”

Everyone quickly looked over at the mound, several people letting out surprised sounds as Eijun met their eyes.

Fuku-chan smiled softly at Eijun before nodding.

Carlos grinned, winking at him, causing Mei to shoot him a dirty look.

(He didn’t care that Carlos couldn’t see him. He wasn’t allowed to wink at his boyfriend!)

Katsuyuki looked the same as ever, furrowing his eyebrows before nodding for some reason.

Yabe grinned, holding out his bat toward Eijun, as if declaring he would hit off him.

Jinguuji grinned before giving him a determined look.

Yama-chan nodded, looking determined.

Ezaki grinned a toothy grin, holding out his right fist.

Saotome gave him a determined look.

Itsuki smiled softly at Eijun before giving him a determined look.

Mei huffed at their reactions, tempted to throw his cup at the wall.

Eijun shouldn’t be looking at them, damn it.

He should be looking at him.

Eijun looked at him a few moments later, his eyes widening when they met his.

Took him long enough.

Mei smirked, amused when Eijun narrowed his eyes.

Unfortunately, Eijun ended their moment by looking away and speaking to Kazuya some more.

Impertinent brat.

Like last year, Eijun made his entrance into the game late.

This year, though, Eijun was Seidou’s ace and his… rival.

Eijun better keep up with this game’s pace and intensity.

He expected to see Eijun’s ace-like pitching from the Sankou game or something better.

Otherwise, he would feel disappointed and annoyed.

(Eijun wouldn’t like that at all.)

He almost rolled his eyes, the corners of his lips twitching despite himself.

If Eijun was another pitcher, he wouldn’t feel this way.

Wouldn’t expect something from him.

Because it was Eijun, though, he felt this way.

(He hoped Eijun knew how lucky he was. All the other pitchers in Japan could only dream of having the king’s attention and interest, but the king was only interested in Eijun.)

Eijun was different.

Always had been different.

Even from when they first met and when they met again in the city.

(Back then, he didn’t think much of Eijun’s pitching and insulted it a lot. He had even thought Eijun’s performance during their game was a fluke.)

He smirked as Eijun talked to his teammates.

He wouldn’t admit it to Eijun, but he was right.

Only three innings left.

With Eijun on the mound, this was where things got serious.

They all knew it would be difficult to hit off Eijun, especially if Eijun pitched his ace-like pitching, but they needed to hit off him to win this game.

“Go, Jinguuji!” one of his teammates called out. “Show Eijun what you’re made of! This is your chance!”

Jinguuji held up his right fist. “Yeah! I’ll be back!”

Eijun looked a little stiff, throwing two balls to him.

Mei didn’t blame Eijun for looking stiff, but he hoped Eijun got over his nerves soon.

He wanted to see him at his best.

Of course, almost immediately after he thought that, Eijun stopped the game and started taking deep breaths.

Mei laughed loudly from his spot inside Inashiro’s dugout, not caring when some of his teammates shot him dirty looks. “I can’t… believe him! As expected of Eijun!” He kept laughing, placing his hands on his ribs, tears forming in his eyes. “My sides hurt!”

Fortunately (for both him and Eijun), Eijun didn’t take long, holding his glove up and looking determined a few moments later.

Mei clicked his tongue as Eijun managed to retire Jinguuji with his splitter custom.

Eijun would brag about that to him later.

He must’ve felt pleased with himself, as he grinned an evil grin.

So annoying.

Ezaki didn’t fare any better against Eijun, as Eijun managed to retire him with his cutter.

(Eijun’s cutter might be great, but his cutter was a lot better.)

Carlos stood in the batter’s box next, crowding the plate.

Like they had talked about (read: Mei ordering them not to take it easy on him) during their meeting, Carlos tried to recreate what happened last year.

Mei hadn’t let it show during their meeting or any of the times his teammates mentioned it, but a part of him felt… worried about Eijun.

(He couldn’t help it. His feelings for Eijun made him feel this way.)

Did Eijun get over what happened last year?

How would he react?

Eijun, though, didn’t let it get to him.

He pitched with confidence and managed to corner Carlos.

As expected of him.

Eijun was a completely different pitcher compared to last year.

Carlos still hung in there, but it was obvious he had trouble hitting Eijun’s pitches forward.

(Were Eijun’s pitches that good right now?)

Mei’s hands twitched.

He couldn’t wait to stand in the batter’s box and face off against him.

This pitching…

Eijun showed the same rhythm during the Sankou game.

Mei grinned a broad grin, feeling his heartbeat race.

He wanted them to hit off Eijun and score runs, but…

He also wanted to hurry up and stand on that mound again.

Inashiro’s ace wanted to respond to Seidou’s ace.

Carlos managed to hit one of Eijun’s pitches, but he couldn’t overpower him.

Mei wiped his sweat off with his towel and drank some water before leaving the dugout.

Eijun stopped at the edge of the field, turning around to look at them, blinking when their eyes met.

Mei smirked at him, tilting his chin condescendingly. His challenging glint entered his eyes.

Eijun narrowed his eyes, turning around with a huff and entering his dugout.

Mei had thought Eijun’s pitching from last year had been a fluke or a bluff.

He could tell, though, by Eijun’s pitching that last year’s pitching hadn’t been just a bluff.

Bring it on.

If Eijun thought he could take him down by working together with Furuya, he was wrong.

Still…

Eijun trying to take him down was new.

(Eijun might’ve pitched last year, but he didn’t try to take him down.)

Not that this feeling felt bad.

It felt good in a way.

Like they played a game of tag.

Mei ran far ahead of Eijun and the rest of his teammates, and even Seidou’s fastest runners couldn’t catch up to him.

They tried cornering him multiple times, but they failed every time.

They had tried that last year, and it didn’t work.

This year, though…

Instead of running after him by themselves (like they had been doing this whole time), Eijun and Furuya stood together in a huddle, whispering to each other.

After coming up with a plan, they charged after him, trusting each other and waiting for their chance to tackle him.

Mei wouldn’t let them tackle him, though.

He might allow them to catch up and come close to touching him, but he would step aside at the last moment.

He would win this game of tag.

Like always.

Chapter Text

Defeat Inashiro.

Defeat Mei.

Those should be the only thoughts inside Eijun’s head during this important game.

Eijun, though, found himself looking at Mei again.

Honestly?

He couldn’t not look at Mei, as Mei was Inashiro’s current pitcher and ace.

He didn’t look at him as his opponent, though.

(His teammates would probably get upset with him after the game when they learn he hadn’t been paying attention to Mei’s pitches.)

His boyfriend stood on top of the mound, looking determined.

Mei…

Inashiro’s ace was his boyfriend.

The same guy who had that breathtaking and unforgettable pitcher’s duel with Furuya…

The same guy his amazing senpai couldn’t beat…

The same guy who everyone called the best of his generation…

That same guy was his boyfriend.

Something about Mei drew him in.

While he didn’t have the best impression of him at first, Mei managed to change his mind.

(Mei only cared about Furuya when they first met. It had been so annoying.)

He had become more interested in Mei after hearing about how his senpai struggled against him the year before and after seeing him pitch himself.

It was back then that he started looking up to Mei and thought of him as his rival.

When they met again in the city, Eijun had tried to hide his crush, not wanting him to know that with each conversation they had, Eijun liked him more and more.

(Which failed according to Mei. It frustrated him that Mei had noticed his crush and said nothing about it.)

Back then, he hadn’t known about the rumors surrounding Mei and had no idea what he got himself into when he agreed to date him.

Mei hadn’t acted like the best boyfriend.

(No, Mei hadn’t even acted like a good boyfriend. It still didn’t stop him from liking him, though.)

Maybe a part of him had known about Mei’s feelings for him all along?

Maybe he continued dating him even when things got rough because a part of him believed in Mei’s feelings for him?

(He had wondered about Mei’s feelings for him a lot. Mei didn’t act like a good boyfriend and didn’t treat him properly, but he had those moments where he would be very sweet.)

Of course, he hadn’t known at the time that whenever Mei was kind to him, Mei hadn’t done that with his exes.

Mei hadn’t liked any of his exes and hadn’t wanted to become a better boyfriend for any of them.

For some reason, though, Mei liked him and liked him enough to want to become a better boyfriend for him.

(Thankfully, Mei never changed. He would never want Mei to change. He liked him for who he was.)

Eijun had been surprised when Mei almost immediately started working on becoming a better boyfriend.

That felt like proof of Mei’s feelings for him, especially how much he felt for him.

Their relationship wasn’t always perfect or easy, though.

… No.

Their relationship was never easy.

(His boyfriend was Narumiya Mei, a guy who had an ego the size of Jupiter.)

He still remembered their fight after the Inashiro and Ugumori game.

They have had a lot more arguments since then, but none of them had been as bad as that one.

Eijun looked down at his left hand, gently rubbing it and remembering Mei’s tight grip like it happened yesterday.

He hadn’t known what would happen with their relationship, but he felt glad he gave Mei time to think and decide what he wanted to do.

(Waiting for Mei had been rough, and he still winced thinking about it now.)

When Mei finally apologized and confessed his feelings, he almost didn’t believe him at first.

Not because he doubted him, but because it felt like a dream come true.

(He had learned early on in their relationship that Mei wouldn’t joke or lie about something like that.)

He might have had a small crush on Cap, but his feelings for Cap never came close to his feelings for Mei.

… Not that Mei ever seemed to believe him.

He didn’t know why Mei always looked jealous whenever they talked about his small crush on Cap.

(It was just a small crush. Besides, he liked Mei now. Mei was so weird sometimes.)

His feelings for Mei kept growing with each day he dated him.

At some point, he realized he really liked him.

He had felt so happy when Mei told him the same thing.

He couldn’t imagine life without Mei.

Mei hadn’t been around in his life for that long, but he wanted him to stay for as long as possible.

(If Mei broke up with him after this game, he hoped they would remain friends. It would hurt to hang out with him, knowing Mei didn’t want to date him anymore, but he wanted him to stay in his life.)

His feelings for Mei had been serious enough that he wanted to introduce him to his family and Wakana.

His family and Wakana hadn’t known what to think at first and felt suspicious of Mei’s feelings for him.

Like him, though, they got to know Mei better and started liking him.

(At one point, Mei had smirked at him, bragging about how he knew they would fall for his charm. Eijun had rolled his eyes, but he had silently agreed with him.)

Mei had even promised to go back to Nagano with him during winter break.

It was still months away, of course, but he was looking forward to it.

(Whenever it came up, Mei always rolled his eyes and told him to calm down. He always gave him a hard time and teased him about his excitement, but Eijun knew Mei was looking forward to it, too.)

He had already been thinking about where to take him and what they should do.

None of it was set in stone, though, as he wanted to know what Mei thought and if he wanted to do anything special.

Honestly?

It was sappy, but he knew Mei probably wouldn’t care where they went or what they did as long as they were together.

(Winters in Nagano were a lot colder than winters in Tokyo. He already knew Mei would complain about the cold and try to always keep him close.)

Mei always supported him and looked out for him.

He always stood by him whenever things got rough with his teammates and was always there for him.

Mei was… amazing.

An amazing guy and an amazing boyfriend.

(Not that he would admit that to Mei. Eijun didn’t need Mei’s already massive ego to grow any larger.)

Mei had his flaws like everyone else, of course.

That prideful and attention seeking part of his personality irritated him at times and made him worry, but Mei never took things too far.

(Mei liked competing with him and always took great pleasure whenever he won. He always emphasized how he always won. It made him worry about how Mei would react after Inashiro lost.)

They might continue to struggle and have rough times ahead of them, but they had each other.

Eijun looked back up, watching Mei again.

Of course, they wouldn’t be dating in the first place if they hadn’t met because of baseball.

Baseball was an important part of their lives and probably would always be.

It was so important to them that they promised not to let their relationship affect it.

They had also promised not to let baseball affect their relationship, but baseball took up so much of their time sometimes that it affected it whether they liked it or not.

They still tried to see each other as often as possible, though, and called whenever they got too busy.

Baseball was important to them, and they wanted to continue playing it for as long as possible.

Their relationship, though, was just as important to them.

His heart always melted at Mei’s kindness and whenever Mei made time for him.

Eijun always tried to make time for him and always tried to let him know how much Mei meant to him.

(Even if it made Mei smug.)

He wanted Mei to let his wall down and be vulnerable around him.

It still hadn’t happened that much.

Eijun could count on one hand the times Mei was vulnerable around him.

Mei could be very blunt at times, but he didn’t like being vulnerable.

Eijun would wait as long as it took, though.

He knew he couldn’t force Mei.

All he could do was stick around and be there for him whenever he needed him.

He would never judge Mei for being vulnerable and always made sure to remind him of that.

He wanted to help him.

Be there for him.

Support him whenever things got rough.

He wanted to make Mei happy.

An image of Mei smiling softly at him came to mind.

He wanted to protect Mei’s smile.

He wanted to defend him from everyone who dared insult and doubt him.

(Mei probably wouldn’t care about those comments and might even feel insulted that Eijun wanted to defend him, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want anyone to badmouth him.)

Just as equally, though, he wanted to play baseball with Mei.

He wanted to catch up to him and make him acknowledge him.

He wanted to beat him.

That rivalry was an important part of their relationship, and Eijun wouldn’t want it to change.

Eijun smiled a soft (and maybe goofy) smile.

His feelings for Mei, especially when they grew so deep so fast, scared him sometimes.

He would never regret meeting Mei and liking him, though.

He didn’t know what Mei thought about their future together, but he hoped they stayed together for a long time.

Because he…

“You really like him, don’t you?”

Eijun jumped, letting out a startled yell. He quickly looked around, narrowing his eyes at an amused Haruichi. “Did you have to do that! You scared me, Haruichi!”

Haruichi seemed to resemble Onii-san more and more lately.

(Not that Eijun would ever tell him that, though.)

Haruichi shrugged, stepping up next to him, still looking amused. “Maybe if you weren’t busy drooling over Narumiya-san, you would’ve noticed me.”

“D-Drooling…!” Eijun’s face turned red. “I was not drooling over Mei!”

Haruichi looked skeptical. “Uh huh. That means you’ve been paying attention to what’s going on in the game, right?”

“O-Of course!” Eijun’s traitorous face turned redder. “You know me! Baseball means a lot to me!”

Haruichi still looked skeptical. He sighed a few moments later, causing Eijun to blink. “You really like him, don’t you?”

Didn’t Haruichi already know that?

Itsuki was one of the people he talked to about his relationship with Mei the most, but he also talked to Haruichi about it.

(Whenever they were alone, that is. Eijun would never talk to Haruichi about his relationship with Mei around their teammates, as most of them still didn’t approve, much less like it.)

He also talked to Shishou about it, but he didn’t talk to him a lot, not wanting to bother him and take up a lot of his time.

(Shishou always reassured him that he enjoyed hearing about his relationship with Mei and always asked about it whenever they talked. Seriously, Shishou was too kind to him.)

Eijun furrowed his eyebrows, looking confused. “Yeah. What about it?”

Haruichi really wanted to talk about his feelings for Mei right now?

(Of course, he probably wasn’t much better, getting lost in his thoughts about his relationship with Mei. No wonder Haruichi thought he was drooling over Mei.)

“Are you guys going to be alright?” Haruichi looked concerned, causing him to blink.

Eijun scratched his head. “Sorry, Haruichi. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He had a guess, of course, but Haruichi could be talking about something else.

“Today’s game.”

Knew it.

Eijun laughed nervously. “Honestly? I don’t know.” He frowned, glancing at Mei. “I want to believe that we will be, but…”

“You can’t help but feel worried.” Haruichi shot Mei a dirty look for some reason. “Especially considering his personality.”

(Did Mei offend Haruichi somehow? That made sense, considering Mei’s personality.)

Eijun sighed. “Yeah. I know Mei.” His voice was quiet. “I know he won’t react well to Inashiro’s loss.”

Haruichi looked at Mei, narrowing his eyes. “He’ll regret it if he hurts you. I made sure to let him know how I felt about him hurting you.”

Eijun’s chest felt warm. He gave him a reassuring smile. “Thank you, Haruichi, but I’ll be alright.”

Haruichi looked back at him, giving him a scrutinizing look. He nodded a few moments later, walking away from him to grab a cup of water.

Eijun would be lying if he said he didn’t understand Haruichi’s worry, as he had thought about it, too.

He didn’t want to believe that Mei would hurt him, but he also knew Mei had a bit of a temper.

Even if Mei hurt him, though, Eijun hoped Mei would realize what he did and apologize to him.

Because he… couldn’t stay away from him.

Mei kept pulling him in.

That attention seeking, prideful, arrogant personality irritated him at times, but he couldn’t look away from him even if he wanted to.

Mei shined brighter than any star.

Than anyone he knew.

Mei always made him want more.

More of him.

Whenever he left him to go back to Seidou or hung up the phone, he always felt disappointed.

He always wanted more time to hang out with him and talk to him.

(If he told Mei that, Mei would probably smirk and tease him about his feelings for him. Arrogant jerk.)

That was Mei, though.

Ever since he first met him, Mei always had this irresistible quality about him.

He always tempted him to get closer to him with that attractive smirk of his.

Mei always stood further ahead of him, smirking. Instead of leaving Eijun behind, though, he always held out a hand, allowing him to join him.

Like the waves at the beach.

The ocean always looked so inviting; Eijun always found himself striding across the warm sand toward it.

After Eijun made his choice, the ocean always responded by pulling him along.

They kept pulling him out further to sea and further away from the shore.

He knew he should feel worried about drowning or losing sight of the shore.

The strange thing was that he didn’t feel worried at all.

He didn’t want to step out of the ocean.

Only wanted to stay with it and see where it took him.

He knew how to swim, and he knew that when he became too tired to swim, he could float on his back and allow the ocean to pull him along.

The ocean entranced him.

Sure, life at sea might get rough at times, especially whenever those waves turned rough and pushed against him.

The ocean always listened to him, though, and always calmed down.

If the ocean ever wanted him to leave, he would leave.

He wanted the ocean to be happy.

(Even at the cost of his own happiness.)

Because he…

“Stop it.”

Eijun blinked, surprised to see Kuramochi-senpai standing next to him. “Kuramochi-senpai?”

“I said stop it.”

Eijun furrowed his eyebrows, looking confused. “Stop what?”

“Stop smiling that goofy smile.”

Eijun frowned, looking away from him to look at Mei, smiling a goofy smile despite himself.

“Oi, Sawamura!”

Eijun flushed, frowning at Kuramochi-senpai. “What’s the big deal, Kuramochi-senpai? I’m allowed to smile.”

Kuramochi-senpai clicked his tongue. “Not when you direct it to who you’re looking at.”

Kuramochi-senpai had apologized for getting involved with their relationship and for trying to make Eijun break up with Mei, but Eijun knew Kuramochi-senpai still didn’t approve of, much less like Mei.

“I can’t help it!” Eijun protested. “He’s right there, you know!”

Kuramochi-senpai huffed. “Do you even realize what’s going on right now? How can you look at him like that at a time like this?”

Eijun’s flush darkened. “I… That’s…” He looked at Mei again, ignoring Kuramochi-senpai’s sound of protest. “I know I shouldn’t.” His voice was quiet. “He’s our rival and enemy.” He looked down at his hands, forming a fist with his left hand. “But I can’t…” He looked at Kuramochi-senpai, gripping the front of his jersey, feeling his heartbeat. “I can’t ignore these feelings for him! I can’t!”

He understood what Kuramochi-senpai meant.

Of course he did.

(He was Seidou’s ace and a representative of all the players who didn’t make the first string. He took his responsibilities seriously.)

He couldn’t ignore or somehow turn off his feelings for Mei during this game, though.

He wouldn’t let them affect his pitching, but he also wouldn’t ignore them.

His teammates probably wanted him to somehow turn off his feelings for Mei or ignore them during this game, but Eijun… couldn’t do that.

He had always listened to his feelings and embraced them, and he wouldn’t stop it because his teammates wanted him to.

(Mei would probably look smug if he heard that. He would probably grab his chin, forcing him to look at him, and tell him how flattered he was that Eijun chose him over his teammates while rubbing his lips with his thumb.)

“Your feelings for him are annoying.” Kuramochi-senpai gestured to the stadium around them. “Things will only get worse when they all find out about your relationship with him, you know.”

Eijun frowned deeply, clenching his fists. “I know they will. I’ve known that ever since I agreed to date him.” He looked at Mei. “I’ve known that ever since I decided I wanted to tell everyone about it, but we decided we’ll tell everyone about it together.”

The fans of Seidou and Inashiro, the media, and even his classmates might question him and his feelings for Mei.

Mei had warned him that some people might even approach him and try to use him to either hurt Mei or get in his good graces.

None of that changed Eijun’s mind, though.

He had made up his mind a while ago.

He wanted to tell everyone about his relationship with Mei.

Besides, they would be alright.

They had each other.

He trusted Mei.

“You really think he’ll listen to you?” Kuramochi-senpai looked skeptical.

Eijun gave him a serious look. “Mei’s a lot of things, but he wouldn’t trample on my trust.”

Kuramochi-senpai stared at him for a few moments before groaning. “Seriously, your feelings for him are so annoying. Why did you have to choose him anyway?”

… That was right.

He chose Mei.

When he met him again in the city, he could’ve ignored his crush on Mei.

Back then, he still had his small crush on Cap.

If he wanted to, he could’ve ignored his crush on Mei and did something about his crush on Cap.

Something told him, though, not to ignore his feelings.

Mei had… seemed interested in him.

Sure, Mei probably didn’t have any feelings for him back then, but he liked him enough to want to go out on a date with him.

(Well, another date.)

Eijun had made his choice when he asked Mei out.

His feelings for Mei had only grown since that day.

They had grown to the point that Mei occupied a lot of his thoughts.

Because he… loved him.

Oh.

… Oh.

Eijun’s eyes widened. He looked back at Mei, his jaw dropping as Mei held a fist in the air, looking back at Kamiya-san.

“Sawamura?”

I love you.

A part of Eijun knew the inning was over, as Mei jogged off the field with his teammates, but he couldn’t move.

Couldn’t stop looking at him.

I love you.

These feelings for Mei were… love?

That… made a lot of sense, though.

He remembered thinking that telling Mei he really liked him wasn’t enough anymore.

He also remembered thinking he… hadn’t been ready yet.

I love you.

His chest felt as warm as the white hot chocolate they shared on their dates.

Everyone had kept asking him why he chose Mei and why he only wanted to date Mei.

They had kept asking what he saw in him and kept questioning his choice in partner.

(Partner… He liked that word. Cap was his battery partner, but Mei was his… romantic partner.)

I love you.

He loved seeing Mei happy and wanted him to stay that way.

He loved the way Mei trusted him and looked out for him.

He loved the way Mei listened to him and his feelings.

Mei never mocked his feelings or thought of him differently because of them.

I love you.

“Sawamura?”

Eijun blinked, noticing Cap standing in front of him with his catcher gear on. The rest of his teammates stood around him, putting on their hats. He flushed, grabbing his hat and glove before joining him.

Cap gave him a strange look before talking to him about something (probably Inashiro’s batters), but Eijun couldn’t focus on his words.

Whenever he looked at Mei, he felt his heart flutter and fill up with love.

I love you.

Cap finished talking and looked at him, causing Eijun to blink.

Did Cap ask him something?

Eijun didn’t know what Cap told him or what he asked, but he still nodded, looking determined.

Cap nodded back, apparently pleased with his response.

(Was that the right answer? Cap would probably scold him and be disappointed if he knew he hadn’t been paying attention.)

As they made their way onto the field, Eijun looked over at Mei.

I love you.

Sensing his gaze, Mei stopped outside his dugout, turning around and looking at him. He met his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows and giving him a long look.

Could Mei sense his feelings for him?

Mei couldn’t see his heart, but he had always known how he felt about him.

(Mei always loved teasing him about how he couldn’t hide his feelings from him, but whenever Eijun protested, Mei always reassured him that he liked that part of him, his eyes soft.)

Were his feelings that obvious?

Eijun stopped on top of the mound, his heartbeat racing.

Mei rolled his eyes before smirking at him, pointing below him, as if trying to remind him where he stood.

Eijun hadn’t forgotten where he stood, of course.

He knew they were still in the middle of the game.

His flush still darkened, though.

Mei laughed silently for several moments, his shoulders shaking. He smirked at him one last time before turning around and entering his dugout.

I love you.

Eijun wanted to see him again.

He wanted to talk to him until his voice grew hoarse.

He wanted to tell him about these feelings.

Eijun looked away from him, taking a few deep breaths before looking at Cap and warming up.

(Before he warmed up, Cap had shot him a dirty look for some reason. Seriously, why did Cap keep shooting him dirty looks today?)

They would tackle Inashiro’s cleanups this inning, so Eijun knew he needed to focus on baseball again.

As the inning started and Shirakawa-san entered the batter’s box, though, he couldn’t stop himself from looking over at the Inashiro dugout one last time.

I love you.

Chapter Text

When the game ended, the stadium erupted in cheers.

When Seidou had won the fall tournament finals game, the crowd back then had been loud, too.

The crowd back then couldn’t compare to the size of the crowd today, though.

(Probably because people sat everywhere. Even in the outfield bleachers.)

The noise back then couldn’t compare to the noise today.

Eijun stood on top of the mound, blinking a few times, listening to the cheers all around him.

Did they… win?

Did they finally beat Inashiro?

Noticing the Inashiro player on his hands and knees on the field and Cap standing up and fist pumping, he formed a fist with his left hand and raised it into the air, copying Mei from earlier, and let out a loud, triumphant yell.

They had finally done it!

The long, exhausting but enjoyable game… ended.

Seidou did it.

They won the ticket to Koushien.

They beat Inashiro.

Speaking of Inashiro…

Eijun quickly turned to look at Inashiro’s dugout, craning his neck to look for Mei. He caught sight of him a few moments later sitting in the back of the dugout with a towel around his neck. Mei had his head bowed, hiding his face from everyone.

Mei…

He looked hurt.

Was he… crying?

Eijun wanted to rush over and… hold him.

He hated it whenever Mei was sad.

Rushing over there, though, especially when he just beat Mei, would be insensitive.

(He knew how much winning meant to Mei and his pride.)

He got one last look at Mei before his teammates tackled him, some hugging him, all their bodies blocking his view of the Inashiro dugout.

“We did it! We did it!”

“We’re going to Koushien! Good job, Sawamura!”

“Yeah, you did great, Sawamura!”

It was strange.

All this acknowledgement from his teammates…

He had wanted this for so long.

He wanted to enjoy this moment, but he couldn’t.

Not when he knew Mei was hurting (and possibly crying.)

“Sawamura why are you quiet! We won!”

“Yeah, I thought you’d be crying!”

Eijun laughed a loud, fake laugh. “Yeah, I guess it hasn’t sunk in yet!” He gave them a fake smile.

(He couldn’t tell them he felt like crying for a different reason.)

Even though everyone knew about his relationship with Mei, none of his teammates questioned him or looked suspicious.

They were too busy celebrating.

(Or maybe they remembered and… still didn’t care?)

Out of all his teammates, only Haruichi, Furuya, Kuramochi-senpai, and Cap stopped celebrating to look at him.

Haruichi, ever his supporter, looked worried.

Furuya didn’t look worried (as usual), but he stepped closer, gently patting his shoulder.

Eijun didn’t know whether to feel touched or amused.

Kuramochi-senpai narrowed his eyes, shooting both him and the Inashiro dugout a dirty look before looking away, gritting his teeth.

Now Cap…

Cap was always difficult to read.

He became even more difficult to read whenever Eijun or someone else mentioned his relationship with Mei.

Cap frowned deeply, glancing at the Inashiro dugout. When he met his eyes, Cap’s eyes widened. He scowled for a few moments before looking away like Kuramochi-senpai, clenching his fists.

Eijun never knew what to expect with Cap.

Cap had never hesitated to let him (and everyone else) know how he felt about his relationship with Mei.

They had argued many times about it, and Cap had hurt him more times than he could remember.

(Come to think of it… Cap had never apologized for trying to break him and Mei up. Not that he expected anything different.)

His reaction today, though…

Eijun understood that Cap and Kuramochi-senpai still didn’t approve of, much less like Mei, but…

Couldn’t they show compassion?

They knew how much Mei meant to him.

What the hell?

They disliked Mei that much?

Eijun’s heart already hurt, but that made the pain worse.

The rest of his teammates smiled and cheered, shaking each other’s shoulders and hugging.

Like nothing was wrong.

Maybe that was how they saw it.

(What could be wrong? They were going to Koushien.)

Even though the pain hurt, Eijun smiled a fake smile, keeping it on his face even when Kuramochi-senpai and Cap looked at him again.

(Kuramochi-senpai and Cap noticed his fake smile, stepping closer, their eyes hardening. Eijun, though, wouldn’t let them ruin the rest of his jubilant teammates’ day and gave them a defiant look, his eyes fierce. They froze, exchanging an unreadable look before nodding at him a few moments later.)

Even when the rest of his teammates turned to him and let out a loud cheer.

Even when they lined up to thank Inashiro for the game.

As he straightened up from his bow, Eijun looked around for Mei, finding him standing near the end.

Mei stood up to his full height, narrowing his eyes and baring his teeth, his eyes shiny and fierce. He clenched his fists by his sides, glowering at the Seidou players in front of him.

Eijun didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried.

On one hand, he didn’t want to see Mei cry.

On the other hand, an angry Mei was a scary Mei.

Seeing him like this brought back memories of when he visited him after the Inashiro and Ugumori game.

Mei had lashed out at him, snarling like an animal. His eyes had looked as hard and as cold as ice.

Even though the hot sun shined in the cloudy sky, Eijun shivered.

Mei looked like a white lion, ready to pounce if someone provoked him.

But Eijun still—

“Congratulations, Eijun!”

Eijun blinked, looking away from Mei and noticing Jinjin standing in front of him, holding out his hand. “Jinjin…”

Jinjin grinned a wide grin, his eyes red and puffy. “You beat us fair and square!”

“Thank you.” Eijun shook his hand, smiling a soft smile. “I couldn’t have won without my teammates, though.”

Jinjin shook his head, letting go of his hand. “We couldn’t score any runs off you. You beat us, Eijun.” He frowned at the field. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sad, but…” He looked back up, grinning that wide grin again. “I also feel happy for you.”

Jinjin was a second year like him, so he had one more year.

He wasn’t like Kamiya-san, Shirakawa-san, Yamaoka-san, Fukui-san or… Mei.

Despite being a second year, though, this game meant a lot to him.

Eijun knew Jinjin would miss his senpai.

Jinjin probably wanted to go to Koushien with his senpai.

Jinjin’s happiness looked sincere, though.

“Thank you, Jinjin.” Eijun smiled another soft smile before looking determined. “We’ll do our best at Koushien for Inashiro’s sake, too.”

Jinjin laughed. “You better. I don’t want people saying Inashiro’s weak for losing to Seidou.”

Eijun narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists. “Believe me. I would never let them get away with that.”

Jinjin’s eyes widened before softening a few moments later. “Yeah, you’re right.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “As expected of you, Eijun.” He stepped closer, and Eijun thought he might ask for another handshake, but Jinjin surprised him by hugging him.

“Jinjin…” Eijun stared at the side of his head, his mouth open. “Is something wrong?”

Jinjin tightened his grip around him. “Sorry, Eijun. I know this is unfair and selfish of me, but can you let me do this?” He gripped the back of his jersey. “Just… Just for a few more moments.”

Eijun frowned, looking around at his teammates and the rest of Inashiro.

It would be bad if Mei saw them, but…

Eijun looked back at Jinjin, his eyes softening. He hugged him back, briefly closing his eyes. “Alright. Just for a few more moments.”

Jinjin was his friend.

He could do this much for him.

As promised, Jinjin let go of him a few moments later, rubbing the back of his head, his cheeks flushed for some reason. “Sorry, Eijun. I don’t know what came over me.”

“I didn’t mind.” Eijun smiled a soft smile. “Did that help?”

Jinjin’s eyes widened. His flush darkened. “I-It helped a lot! Thank you!”

Weird.

Why did Jinjin look flushed?

Was that because of the sun?

Kamiya-san almost shoved Jinjin aside, causing Jinjin to yelp and almost lose his footing. “Are you guys done yet? I want my turn with Eijun.”

“Jinjin!” Eijun called out, concerned. He let out a relieved breath when Jinjin grinned his normal grin at him. He looked at Kamiya-san, giving him a disapproving look. “Kamiya-san, you shouldn’t treat him like that! What if he got hurt?”

Jinjin shot Kamiya-san a dirty look before giving Eijun a grateful look.

Kamiya-san grinned at him, clearly unapologetic. “Sorry, sorry. I admit I felt annoyed earlier. That’s why I did that.”

Eijun frowned. “That’s still no excuse to do it.” He blinked. “Annoyed? Annoyed by what?”

“You don’t need to worry about that, Eijun.” Kamiya-san shook his head before holding out his hand. “I came over to congratulate you. Congratulations.”

While Eijun still felt confused, he shook Kamiya-san’s hand. “Thank you very much.”

“I wanted to hit off you no matter what.” Kamiya-san tightened his grip on his hand, his eyes dark, causing Eijun to blink. “But I couldn’t overpower you. Again.” He relaxed his grip, letting go, his eyes bright again.

… Did Eijun imagine that dark look in his eyes?

Eijun laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “No, I got lucky. That last pitch was a bit too high.” He grinned a bright grin. “As expected of you! You didn’t let that chance slip by!”

Kamiya-san laughed a loud laugh, puffing his chest out. “I’ve become quite a batter, huh? I surprised you, didn’t I?”

“You did!” Eijun laughed a happy laugh. “I never thought you’d become that good!”

Kamiya-san’s eyes widened. His jaw dropped. “What do you mean you never thought I’d become this good?” He stepped closer, shaking a finger. “I’m disappointed in you, Eijun.”

Eijun hid his laugh behind his hand. “Sorry, Kamiya-san.”

“So impertinent.” Kamiya-san sighed a few moments later, causing Eijun to look concerned. “Sorry.”

Eijun frowned. “For what?”

“For making this about me.” Kamiya-san huffed. “You’re the one who won. We should be talking about you.”

Eijun shook his head. “That isn’t true, Kamiya-san! I always enjoy our conversations!” He gave him a serious look. “Besides… I know this is just as important to you as it is to me.”

Kamiya-san’s eyes widened. “Eijun…”

“Thank you for all the hard work in the past three years!” Eijun bowed at the waist for a few moments before straightening and grinning a bright grin. He let out a surprised sound as Kamiya-san hugged him. “K-Kamiya-san?”

Kamiya-san pulled him close, looking down at the field over his shoulder. “Thank you, too, Eijun. I’m glad our final opponent was you.”

“Kamiya-san…” Eijun flushed before hugging him back. “I’ll do you guys proud in Koushien, I promise.”

Kamiya-san briefly tightened his grip on him before pulling away with a grin. “You better. I want you guys, especially you, to give everyone hell for us.”

Eijun bumped his chest with his fist. “Leave it to me!”

“What are you saying? You should tell him not to lose.”

Eijun blinked, looking over to the right. His eyes widened. “Shirakawa-san!”

“You guys were taking too long.”

Kamiya-san huffed, stepping out of the way so that Shirakawa-san could take his place. “We weren’t taking that long.”

Eijun frowned. “Yeah, we weren’t taking that long. Besides, I—” He yelped as Shirakawa-san grabbed his hand, his grip tight.

“You of all people don’t get to say that.” Shirakawa-san glared at him.

Eijun winced at his tight grip. “I-I’m sorry, Shirakawa-san.”

Kamiya-san reached out, touching Shirakawa-san’s arm. “I understand why you’re annoyed, but don’t take it out on Eijun.”

Shirakawa-san glared at Kamiya-san before looking at Eijun and letting go of his hand, causing Eijun to breathe a sigh of relief. “Fine. It’s still your fault, though.”

Was this because Seidou beat Inashiro?

Why did Shirakawa-san look so annoyed with him?

“This Sawamura Eijun apologizes for making you wait and for his impertinent behavior!” Eijun bowed at the waist.

Shirakawa-san clicked his tongue. “Enough. You’re wasting my time.”

Kamiya-san laughed. “Then why did you come over here in the first place?”

Eijun straightened up, blinking when Shirakawa-san’s eyes met his. “Shirakawa-san?”

“You’ve gotten better.”

Eijun flushed, rubbing the back of his head. “You think so?” He laughed a loud, happy laugh. “Thank you very much!”

“Don’t get cocky.” Shirakawa-san gave him a warning look. “I don’t want you getting a big head like our idiot ace.”

Eijun laughed again, waving his hand. “Don’t worry. That will never happen.” He looked around for Mei, his face dropping when he didn’t find him.

Did Mei… already leave?

Without saying goodbye?

Sure, Eijun knew Mei wasn’t happy he lost, but he hoped Mei would at least shake his hand.

“You better not.” Shirakawa-san’s soft voice caused Eijun to look at him again. “You also better not lose at Koushien, or I won’t forgive you.”

Eijun saluted him. “This Sawamura Eijun won’t let you down!” He grinned at him a few moments later.

Shirakawa-san smirked for a few moments before frowning. “I’m going to say this for your own good.” He stepped closer, putting a hand on Eijun’s shoulder, causing him to blink. “Don’t meet up with that guy.”

“That guy?” Eijun frowned at him. “Are you talking about Mei?”

Shirakawa-san scowled. “Who else would I be talking about?”

Kamiya-san hummed, causing Eijun to look at him. “He’s right, Eijun. You shouldn’t meet up with Mei right now.”

Eijun frowned deeply, looking between them. “I know he’s upset he lost, but I can’t not meet up with him. He’s my boyfriend.”

I love him.

Shirakawa-san’s face darkened. He tightened his grip on his shoulder. “Don’t meet up with him. He’s going to hurt you.”

“Eijun, we understand how you feel, but…” Kamiya-san huffed for some reason. “We’re trying to look out for you.”

Eijun understood that, but…

He glared at them, his eyes defiant. “I don’t care what you guys say. I’m going to meet up with Mei.”

I love him.

Shirakawa-san let go of his shoulder, jabbing his chest. “Are you stupid? Why would you willingly meet up with him despite our warnings? Do you want to get hurt?”

“Maybe I am stupid!” Eijun glowered at him. “Maybe this is a bad idea, but I…!” He grabbed his heart. “I want to see Mei! I really like him!”

Shirakawa-san and Kamiya-san glared at him for a few moments before Shirakawa-san huffed, pulling Eijun close and wrapping his arms around him, causing Eijun’s jaw to drop.

Shirakawa-san clicked his tongue. “You’re too loud, idiot. Do you want the whole stadium to hear about your feelings for that guy?”

Eijun flushed, looking away briefly. He looked at Kamiya-san over Shirakawa-san’s shoulder, watching as Kamiya-san’s jaw dropped.

(Eijun would’ve felt amused, but he was too busy feeling confused by Shirakawa-san’s hug. Where did that come from?)

Shirakawa-san ruffled his hair, pulling away before Eijun could hug him back. “I won’t say anything else. Go get hurt.” He turned around. “I don’t care.”

Eijun smiled softly, his chest warm. “Thank you very much, Shirakawa-san.” He had felt confused by the hug, but he had also felt Shirakawa-san’s concern through it. He bowed at the waist again. “Thank you for all the hard work in the past three years!”

Shirakawa-san clicked his tongue again. “So loud. I don’t need you to thank me.”

Eijun straightened up, grinning at him when he turned around to face him.

“Eijun!”

Eijun’s eyes lit up as Itsuki took Shirakawa-san’s place. “Itsuki!” He knew it might be inappropriate, but he stepped forward, hugging him, causing Itsuki to let out a surprised sound and Kamiya-san and Shirakawa-san to let out disapproving sounds.

“E-Eijun?”

Eijun pulled away enough to look him in his eyes, keeping his arms around him. “You gave us a lot of trouble with your leads, Itsuki.” He grinned devilishly. “I knew you would. You’re Mei’s battery partner after all.”

Itsuki looked around a few times before hugging him back. “I told you I wouldn’t take it easy on you or the rest of Seidou.”

Eijun knew why Itsuki looked nervous, but he didn’t have anything to be worried about.

Mei knew they were just friends.

“I’m glad you didn’t.” Eijun’s grin widened. “It wouldn’t have been as much fun if you did.” He let go of him a few moments later, his eyes gleaming mischievously. “What did you think about my pitching?”

Itsuki furrowed his eyebrows. “You’re really asking me that now?”

Eijun pouted, pointing at Kamiya-san and Shirakawa-san. “They complimented my pitching.” He stepped closer, his lips twitching. “Are you saying my pitching wasn’t good enough to receive your praise?”

Kamiya-san groaned. “He’s getting as bad as Mei.”

“No, he was always that bad.” Shirakawa-san frowned deeply.

Eijun stood up straight at the comparison to Mei, flushing. “Itsuki!” he whined, his lips twitching as Itsuki rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Come on!”

Itsuki sighed, the corners of his lips twitching. “You’ve gotten a lot better, Eijun,” he said in a deadpan voice. “I barely recognized you.”

They looked at each other for a few moments before erupting in laughter, causing Kamiya-san and Shirakawa-san to shake their heads and everyone else around them to shoot them confused looks.

“Seriously, Eijun, you’re a different pitcher compared to last year.” Itsuki grinned at him when their laughter died down. “You’ve gotten a lot better.” He smiled softly. “Mei-san didn’t say it out loud, but I know he feels the same.”

Eijun’s flush darkened. “Thank you, Itsuki.” He grinned a bright grin. “You’ve gotten a lot better, too. I knew it wasn’t just my imagination.”

Itsuki flushed. “Come to think of it…” He stepped closer, smiling a bright smile. “Mei-san acknowledged me during the game.”

“Eh? He did?” Eijun’s eyes widened. “That’s amazing, Itsuki!” He poked his shoulder, grinning a teasing grin. “How did it feel? Was it everything you hoped for?”

Itsuki’s smile brightened. “It felt good. It made me want to catch more for him.” He looked down at his right hand, forming a fist. “It made me want to help him more as a battery partner.”

Eijun knew Itsuki wasn’t blaming him, but he still winced. “Sorry, Itsuki.”

“What for?” Itsuki looked at him, furrowing his eyebrows. “You won fair and square, Eijun. It’s true I wanted to keep going with this team, but…” He smiled softly. “I’m also happy for you. Congratulations.”

Eijun’s eyes softened. “Thank you, Itsuki.” He bumped his chest with a fist, looking determined. “I promise we’ll give everyone hell at Koushien.”

“I already feel sorry for everyone who has to face you,” Itsuki teased.

Eijun’s jaw dropped. “What’s that supposed to mean!”

Itsuki laughed softly. “I’m kidding. Do your best at Koushien.” He gave him a serious look. “For Inashiro’s share, too.”

“Leave it to me!” Eijun grinned a bright grin. “The next time you see me, Seidou will be the best team in Japan!”

Kamiya-san rolled his eyes, the corners of his lips twitching.

Shirakawa-san scowled, muttering something.

Itsuki shook his head fondly. “You and your confidence.” He smiled softly. “If anyone can do it, it’s you, Eijun.”

Eijun glowed, his smile brighter than the sun.

The only thing that could make him happier was if…

He looked around for Mei, frowning when he couldn’t see him.

Mei…

Suguru took Itsuki’s place, and Yamaoka-san took Suguru’s place.

(Yamaoka-san even gave him one of his rare smiles, something his teammates complained about (much to Eijun’s amusement).)

Each member of the Inashiro first string took some time to congratulate him.

Some had red and puffy eyes, but they all looked sincere when they congratulated him and complimented his pitching.

It was weird how they all kept hugging him, though.

(They didn’t normally touch him this much. Not that they touched him a lot anyway. Mei never allowed them to get near him, always glowering at them and pulling him close.)

Eijun tried his best to give the player in front of him all his attention, but when they kept coming and talking to him, he couldn’t stop himself from looking around for Mei.

He still couldn’t find him.

Where was he hiding?

He couldn’t remember when, but he started wishing Mei was around.

Started wishing that Mei would hug him instead of another Inashiro player.

(He knew that was selfish and unfair. He felt horrible for thinking that and mentally apologized to the Inashiro players.)

After the final Inashiro player (Fukui-san) congratulated him, Eijun looked around, craning his neck to see around Inashiro players.

“Oi, Sawamura!”

Eijun turned his head to see his teammates waiting for him. “Wait, senpai! I still haven’t…!”

I still haven’t met up with Mei!

Eijun looked around several more times, not even seeing a glimpse of that blond hair.

Was Mei hiding behind his teammates?

Eijun frowned deeply at the field below him, clenching his fists.

Did Mei… not want to see him?

He bit his bottom lip, clenching his fists even tighter.

“Sawamura!”

Eijun sighed, kicking the field. He turned around, walking toward his teammates, his shoulders slumped. “I’m coming, senpai.”

Maybe… he should’ve expected this.

He knew how much Mei wanted to win and go to Koushien.

Plus, losing this game meant his high school baseball career was… over.

His eyes darkened.

He… had ruined Mei’s dream.

Mei not wanting to talk to him…

Mei not wanting to see him…

He grabbed his heart, gritting his teeth.

It hurt.

I love him.

Even now, his heart cried out for Mei.

Loved Mei.

Maybe Mei needed some space?

Mei had given him some space last year after Inashiro beat Seidou.

(Of course, Mei had been busy with getting ready for Koushien, but he had still given him some space and didn’t force him to talk if he didn’t want to.)

He sighed, letting go of his jersey.

If Mei wanted some space, he should—

“Eijun.”

His head shot up. He immediately turned around, ignoring his teammates’ protests.

Mei…

Mei stood in front of him a few meters away, smirking at him.

Eijun quickly crossed the distance separating them, clenching his fists to stop himself from reaching out and hugging him.

Mei tilted his head, his smirk widening, as if he read Eijun’s thoughts.

(He probably did. It was so scary sometimes how Mei could read his mind.)

Eijun blinked furiously. “Mei…”

Mei frowned, stepping closer. “What’s wrong with you?” He reached out, unclenching his fists. “Why do you look like you’re about to cry?” He looked concerned. “You won, you know.”

… Did he look that bad?

Eijun frowned deeply at the field below them, gritting his teeth. “You know I cry when I’m happy.”

“You and I both know you’re not happy right now.” Mei’s soft but firm voice made him wince.

Eijun felt Mei’s hands leaving his own and felt tempted to reach out for them. He resisted the urge, looking at him. “You should already know why I don’t look happy.”

Mei, who had been acting weird up to this point, finally reacted. He closed his eyes briefly, clenching his fists before unclenching them. “Are you blaming me?”

“No! Of course not!” Eijun frowned. “You know I…!” He looked around, belatedly remembering their public location and all the cameras around them before looking back at him. “You know I care about you,” he said in a softer voice.

I love you.

Mei hummed, his eyes darkening. “You care about me, huh?”

… That wasn’t his imagination, right?

Eijun stepped closer. “Mei, I—"

“I think we’re forgetting something, Eijun.” Mei smirked when he shivered. He held out a hand, his smirk widening when Eijun’s jaw dropped. “Well? Go on.”

Eijun stared at his hand for a few moments before reaching out and shaking it. “This is…?”

“A handshake?” Mei frowned. “You won, didn’t you?”

Again.

Mei said that so… nonchalantly.

Like it didn’t bother him.

Eijun knew the loss affected him, but he couldn’t find the words to bring it up. “I didn’t think you’d give me one.”

“Eh?” Mei furrowed his eyebrows, looking confused. “Why not?”

Someone who didn’t know Mei well might look at him and think the loss didn’t affect him.

Eijun knew better, though.

He had seen the way Mei briefly tensed.

The way he tightened his grip on his hand.

Eijun knew he should probably let go of Mei’s hand, as they were in public, but he… didn’t want to. “Well, you never struck me as the type of guy to sincerely congratulate his opponents.”

Mei clicked his tongue. “I might hate losing, but I’m not that impolite.”

“That’s good to know.”

Mei rolled his eyes, staring at their hands for a few moments before letting go, looking back at him and frowning at his disappointed look. “I guess I should congratulate you.”

Eijun cursed himself for expressing his feelings.

Now wasn’t the time to tell everyone about his relationship with Mei.

What was wrong with him?

“Thank you. It was a close game.”

Mei scoffed. “In what way? You guys didn’t stand a chance against me.”

“I meant the score.” Eijun shot him a dirty look. “I already know we didn’t come close to your pitching.” He sighed, looking down at the field. “I’ve still got a long way to go.”

Mei hummed. “Yeah, you do, but I realized something after watching you pitch.”

“What’s that?”

Mei stepped closer, causing Eijun to look at him with wide eyes.

They already stood too close and shook hands way too long for it to be normal.

Mei stepping closer might make things worse.

Eijun didn’t move, though, allowing Mei to step as close to him as he wanted.

Mei poked his pitching shoulder. “You’re becoming a pitcher people can’t ignore.” He looked over his shoulder, glowering at the rest of Seidou. “Because they’ll regret it if they do.”

Eijun reached out, tugging at his hand and forcing him to look at him, his chest warm. “And?”

“You’re becoming a pitcher one can’t defeat easily.” Mei glanced at their joined hands, causing Eijun to let go, cheeks flushed. “That’s why…” He pointed at himself with his thumb. “Come join me.”

Eijun’s eyes widened. “Eh? You… What do you…?”

Join him?

Did that mean what Eijun thought it meant?

“I want you on my team, Eijun.” Mei looked serious, his serious look remaining on his face even when Eijun shivered. “Let’s play together.”

Eijun’s jaw dropped.

Mei wanted… him?

Mei wanted him to… join his team?

They would… get to play together?

He cleared his throat, his flush darkening. “You’re… You’re serious? We’re…” He pointed at Mei before pointing at himself. “We’re talking about the future, you know?”

“I’ve thought about this a lot.” Mei’s determined look caused Eijun to freeze. “I want you on my team. Whether that be a university or professional team. Or both.”

Eijun inhaled sharply, tempted to pinch himself. “You want me.”

This felt like a dream.

He had just thought about this earlier today.

He hadn’t known what Mei would think about it, but now…

Mei frowned, his hands twitching. “You don’t have to answer me now. Or even anytime soon.” He gave him a serious look. “I want you to think about it. When you make your decision, let me know.”

Eijun almost smiled.

Mei could be such a great actor sometimes, but other times, he expressed his feelings as openly and as often as Eijun.

Like now.

Mei practically demanded him to join his team and wanted him to think about his answer, but it was obvious Mei wanted him to agree.

His chest felt warm at Mei’s acknowledgement, his chest growing warmer when he remembered that Mei… gave him the choice.

I love you.

Mei’s acknowledgement meant the world to him.

Out of all the baseball players he knew, he looked up to Mei the most.

Mei probably wouldn’t believe him, but he looked up to him more than he looked up to Cap.

(As for Shishou… He looked up to him more than he looked up to Cap, but not as much as he did Mei.)

“Yeah, I’ll think about it.” Eijun smiled softly, his eyes sparkling with happiness and wonder. “I’ll think about it, and I’ll let you know.”

Mei squinted at him. “You better give it a lot of thought.” He placed his hands on his hips, frowning at him. “This is your future we’re talking about. This is serious.”

“I know, I know.” Eijun laughed softly, holding up his hands. “I’ll give it a lot of thought, I promise.”

Mei stared at him for a few moments, looking suspicious before pointing at him. “I hope you know I’m willing to wait. I’m not expecting an answer anytime soon.” He tapped his chin. “No, maybe not even this year.”

Eijun’s jaw dropped. “What! How do you—!” He flushed at Mei’s pointed look.

… Oh, right.

He wasn’t a third year like Mei.

He didn’t need to decide his future path anytime soon.

“That’s all I’m saying.” Mei huffed, the corners of his lips twitching. “You better be grateful I’m willing to wait.”

Eijun didn’t care what people thought about him anymore. He leaned forward, hugging Mei, almost frowning at feeling Mei tense. “Trust me. I’m honored the king wants me to join him.”

For several moments, Eijun thought Mei wouldn’t hug him back.

Maybe he might even push him away?

Mei, though, relaxed, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close. “Of course I do. You’re my knight.”

Eijun shivered, briefly tightening his grip around him when Mei snickered. “I thought I told you not to call me that.”

“Sorry, I don’t make up the rules. I only follow them.”

Eijun snorted into Mei’s shoulder. “Bullshit. You break the rules all the time.”

“Aren’t you lucky to have me?”

Eijun rolled his eyes.

I love you.

Several moments passed, Mei briefly tightening his grip around him.

“People are staring, you know.”

Eijun moved closer, almost stepping on Mei’s toes. “I don’t care.”

“They’re probably badmouthing you and making up rumors about you.”

Eijun scoffed. “Let them.”

“People are staring, you know.”

Eijun knew Mei didn’t repeat that because he thought Eijun was stupid. He reluctantly pulled away enough to make eye contact, keeping his arms around him. “Does that bother you?” He frowned as Mei looked around them. “If it bothers you, I’ll—”

“No.”

Eijun blinked as Mei gave him a serious look. “No?”

Mei tightened his grip around him. “I don’t care what they think.” He leaned in close, causing Eijun’s breathing to hitch. “If you wanted to do something else…” He glanced at his lips. “I wouldn’t be opposed to it.” His voice was soft.

“I…” Eijun stared at him for several moments. He looked around them a few times before looking at Mei. “Why are you…?”

Why did Mei want him to decide?

Mei had already lost.

If he kissed him now, wouldn’t that make things worse for him?

“I…” Eijun frowned deeply, gritting his teeth before letting go of Mei and stepping away from him. “You have no idea how much I want to, but…” He clenched his fists to stop himself from reaching out and kissing him. “I can’t do that to you.” He looked into those wide blue eyes. “I can’t.”

Mei furrowed his eyebrows for a few moments before his eyes softened. He cleared his throat a couple of moments later. “I see. Then I’ll respect your decision.”

Eijun’s eyes widened. “I’m not saying never. Just not now. I—”

“Oi, Sawamura!”

Eijun turned around to look at the rest of Seidou, frowning at the way several of them glowered at them or tapped their foot.

“Hurry up! We still need to thank the crowd for supporting us!”

Eijun turned back to face Mei, frowning deeply as Mei scowled, kicking the field in front of him. “Mei, I—”

Mei shook his head, shooting his teammates a dirty look before looking at him. “You should go. You shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

“What about you?”

Mei’s eyes widened before darkening. “I’m not on your winning team, am I?”

Eijun winced. “I didn’t mean—”

“I know you didn’t.” Mei scowled, reaching out and pushing him gently in the direction of Seidou’s dugout. “Now go. Before they come over and start dragging you.”

Eijun frowned deeply. “They wouldn’t go that far.” He glanced behind him. “I’ll see you later, right?”

Mei sneered. “What, you’ll give me some attention after your winner interviews?”

“That’s not what I—”

Mei clicked his tongue. “Don’t play dumb. I know what happens after you win. Go.” He turned around, clearly about to walk away.

Eijun… didn’t want Mei to leave yet.

Not like this.

He reached out, grabbing his arm, causing Mei to look at him. “Meet me later, Mei.” His voice was soft. “Please.”

“Where?”

Eijun almost smiled at the automatic response. “Same place as last time?”

Mei stared at him for a few moments, frowning deeply. “… You better not make me wait.”

“I won’t!” Eijun let go of his arm, smiling a bright smile. “Thank you, Mei!”

I love you.

Mei huffed, turning around and walking away.

This time, though, Eijun let him go, smiling at his back.

“Sawamura!”

Eijun huffed himself, turning around to face his teammates. “I’m coming!”

He couldn’t stop himself from turning back to look at Mei’s back.

He sighed, about to turn around, blinking when Kunitomo-kantoku’s eyes met his.

Kunitomo-kantoku glanced at Mei before nodding at him.

Eijun’s eyes widened. He quickly bowed at the waist, giving him a deeper bow than the ones he gave to the Inashiro first string.

Once he straightened, he could’ve sworn his eyes played a trick on him.

Kunitomo-kantoku smiled at him.

Eijun rubbed his eyes furiously, blinking several times.

Unfortunately, Kunitomo-kantoku had already turned away, speaking to the Inashiro first string about something.

Eijun turned around to walk back to his dugout, frowning deeply and tapping his chin.

That smile…

Was it his imagination?

(Maybe Mei would know? Kunitomo-kantoku had to have smiled at him before, right?)

“Finally, Sawamura! What took so long!”

Eijun scowled. “You know I wanted to talk to him.”

Kuramochi-senpai raised his eyebrows. “You mean he congratulated you?”

Eijun’s lips twitched despite himself. “Yeah, I was surprised, too.”

“You still took too long.” Cap looked disapproving. “You can argue with him about your pitching another time.”

Eijun glared at him. “We weren’t arguing about my pitching!” He smiled a goofy smile, missing the way several of his teammates made faces. “He acknowledged me.”

“He acknowledged you?” Cap looked suspicious. “Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?”

Eijun glowered at him, clenching his fists. “It’s true! He wants me to join his team after high school!”

Several of his teammates gasped, their eyes widening. Some of them exchanged wide-eyed looks with the teammate beside them.

Haruichi stepped closer to him, frowning. “I’m happy for you, Eijun-kun, but what did you tell him?”

Kuramochi-senpai clicked his tongue. “Knowing Sawamura, he probably agreed without thinking about it.”

Eijun huffed, hating the way his cheeks flushed. “Mei wants me to think about it. He’s not expecting an answer anytime soon.”

Several of his teammates exchanged surprised looks.

“You better give it a lot of thought, Sawamura.” Cap looked serious.

Eijun frowned. “I already told him I would. What are you…?”

“I know you… really like him, but don’t let your feelings for him sway your decision. Think about your future carefully.”

What was Cap talking about?

Sure, he loved Mei and loved the thought of playing on the same team as him, but he wouldn’t let that sway his decision.

Honestly?

He hadn’t thought about his future that much.

He knew he wanted to continue his relationship with Mei and continue playing baseball.

Whether that meant playing on a university team or a professional team, he didn’t know.

(Assuming he got good enough, that is.)

As for his path…

Multiple paths stretched out in front of him.

Mei stood next to one of them, smirking.

It would be a lot of fun to play with Mei.

(Getting to see him at practice and getting to play with him… That would make him so happy.)

At the same time, though…

Playing as enemies again would be a lot of fun, as their rivalry was an important part of their relationship.

They might even get to have the pitcher’s duel that Eijun had been dreaming about for a long time now.

Eijun gave him a serious look. “I promise I’ll think carefully about my future, Cap.”

Cap stared at him for a few moments before nodding. “Then that’s all we need to say.” He turned around, gesturing for them to follow. “Come on. We’ve kept our supporters waiting long enough.”

Everyone (even Haruichi and Furuya) glanced at Eijun before following.

After thanking their supporters and gathering their things, Eijun and his teammates walked through the stadium toward the exit.

Contrary to what Mei thought, the reporters only wanted to talk to Boss… and Furuya.

As usual.

Haruichi mentioned something about his displeased expression, but Eijun didn’t feel jealous.

(Why would he? He knew by now that no one paid any attention to him. All they cared about was Furuya.)

Not even when he managed to catch one of the reporters asking Furuya about his amazing pitcher’s duel with Mei.

(That was supposed to be his pitcher’s duel with Mei! Not Furuya’s!)

Eijun kept staring at a point ahead of him, tightening his grip on his bag strap.

He didn’t care about some stupid winner interviews anyway.

Mei had agreed to meet with him.

He couldn’t keep him waiting.

Haruichi frowned deeply, looking displeased when Eijun told him what he planned on doing. He finally sighed several moments later and held out a hand for his bag, telling him he would let everyone know.

Eijun made sure to thank Haruichi-sama half a dozen times before sneaking away from his teammates.

“You’re late.”

Eijun jumped, letting out a startled yell at seeing Mei already waiting for him in the bathroom. “M-Mei! What are you…?”

He thought the reporters might want to interview Mei.

Did he already finish?

“I told you not to keep me waiting.” Mei stepped closer, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Eijun rubbed the back of his head. “I didn’t think you’d get here so fast. Sorry, Mei.”

“Why did you want to meet here anyway?” Mei scowled. “Already bored with all the interviews?”

Eijun scowled. “You should know by now that no one pays any attention to me.” He gritted his teeth. “All they care about is Furuya.”

Mei’s eyes softened. He huffed, his eyes hardening a couple of moments later. “Well, they’re stupid. Like you.”

“Hah?” Eijun glared at him. “Why are you calling me stupid?”

Mei scoffed. “Because you are. If you wanted to meet up with me to rub it in my face, then—”

“Now who’s the stupid one?” Eijun glowered at him. “I wanted to meet up with you to see you, you ass!”

Mei furrowed his eyebrows, looking confused. “We just saw each other.”

“Not… Not like that!” Eijun let out a frustrated sound. “I wanted to meet up with you in private!”

He had thought about hugging him again and kissing him, but with the way Mei stood away from him, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his eyes hard, he didn’t think Mei wanted him to touch him.

Mei sneered. “What, you want me to congratulate you again? You want me to say you beat me?”

“No, you idiot!” Eijun clenched his fists. “I didn’t want to talk about the game! I wanted—!”

Mei stepped closer, jabbing his chest. “If you didn’t want to talk about the game, why did you want us to meet up?”

“Because I lo—!” Eijun gasped, quickly covering his mouth with his hands, his eyes wide.

What was he thinking?

Now wasn’t the time to tell Mei that he loved him.

Mei gave him a suspicious look. “What? Tell me.” When Eijun shook his head, he grabbed the front of his jersey, glaring at him. “You’re keeping secrets from me now?”

“No, I…!” Eijun held up his hands. “I’ll tell you eventually, I promise!”

Mei tightened his grip, forcing him against the wall behind him, causing Eijun to yelp. “Why can’t you tell me now?”

Eijun glared, grabbing Mei’s hand and the front of Mei’s jersey. “Why can’t you trust me?”

“Who’s not trusting who here?” Mei gave him a pointed look. “I’m not the one keeping secrets.”

Eijun gritted his teeth. “That’s what you think? Then why are you reacting like this?”

“Like what?”

Eijun frowned deeply. “You’re angry you lost, aren’t you? You don’t have to hide it, you know. I know how much—”

“What do you know?” Mei spat. “You’re not me.”

Eijun tightened his grip, glaring again. “I know you. I know how much this meant to you. I—”

“Don’t get a big head. This was just a fluke.”

Eijun froze at Mei’s dangerously low voice, relaxing his grip. “I… What did you…?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

A… fluke?

Mei thought Seidou’s victory was a fluke?

Mei thought his pitching had been… a fluke?

Eijun’s mouth opened and closed several times. “You…” he managed to splutter. “You…”

Mei narrowed his eyes, giving him that familiar condescending look.

“Take that back.” Eijun looked down at the floor, gritting his teeth. He looked at Mei a few moments later, tightening his grip. “Take that back!”

Mei scoffed. “Why? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

“You don’t know how long we’ve been practicing to defeat you!” Eijun trembled. “That victory wasn’t a fluke! My…” He swallowed a lump. “My pitching wasn’t a fluke!”

Even though Mei had to have heard the way his voice cracked, he sneered, his eyes hard. “If you had pitched from the start, Inashiro would’ve won. That’s what your coach thought, right?”

Eijun’s eyes widened. “Eh?”

What…?

What was Mei saying?

“You’re right.” Mei hummed, causing Eijun to blink. “Seidou wouldn’t have stood a chance against us without Furuya.” He didn’t blink, didn’t even look regretful when Eijun inhaled sharply. “No wonder the reporters chose to interview him.”

What the hell?

Mei…

That was what Mei thought?

… No.

That had to be a lie.

Eijun’s hands shook. “You… Why would you say that?” His voice was soft. “You know I… You know how I…”

I love you.

“You know, I’m glad your coach doesn’t trust you.” Mei smirked. “I got to have an exciting pitcher’s duel with Furuya.” He rolled his eyes. “One you interrupted by the way.”

I love you.

Eijun tightened his grip to stop himself from slapping him. “That was supposed to be our pitcher’s duel, you ass! Sure, it might not have been as long as either of us wanted, but I still pitched!”

Mei didn’t mean it.

He didn’t mean any of it.

Eijun knew that, but…

“Our pitcher’s duel?” Mei laughed a mocking laugh, almost causing Eijun to shiver. “You think you’re good enough to have a pitcher’s duel with me?”

Enough.

Eijun let go of Mei, clenching his fists at his sides. “Your teammates seemed to think so.”

“Why are you bringing them up? They've got nothing to do with this.” Mei’s eyes flashed dangerously. He tightened his grip on the front of Eijun’s jersey, pulling at it. “They don’t know anything about being a pitcher.”

Eijun knew mentioning Mei’s teammates would work.

Maybe taking advantage of Mei’s jealousy and possessiveness was a bad idea, but he refused to let Mei continue to insult him and his pitching.

He gave him a serious look. “Maybe they don’t, but at least they didn’t call our victory or my pitching a fluke.”

Mei let go of his jersey, pushing him back against the wall, causing Eijun to wince. “Maybe because they were too busy putting their hands all over you.”

“Putting their hands…!” Eijun’s jaw dropped. He flushed. “They didn’t put their hands all over me!”

Mei slammed his right fist on the wall near Eijun’s head. “I know what I saw!” he bellowed, leaning in close. “You didn’t even care about me!”

“I did! I kept looking around for you!”

Mei scoffed. “You didn’t try hard enough! I keep telling you not to encourage them!”

“What do you mean?” Eijun frowned. “I didn’t encourage them.”

Mei gave him a pointed look. “You didn’t stop them from touching you.”

Eijun’s flush darkened.

… It frustrated him to admit it, but Mei had a point.

He had thought it was weird how the Inashiro players kept hugging him, but he had never protested or stopped them.

He didn’t want to admit that to him, though.

Not right now.

“You know how close I am with them.” Eijun frowned deeply. “I keep telling you to work on—”

Mei’s eyes flashed dangerously. He grabbed the front of his jersey, closing the distance between them and kissed him hard, causing Eijun to groan.

The kiss felt possessive yet demanding at the same time.

(As expected of Mei.)

Eijun grabbed the front of Mei’s jersey with both hands, pulling him closer. He responded to the kiss, kissing him as hard as Mei kissed him, feeling satisfaction at the way Mei groaned.

Of course, the satisfaction didn’t last long, as Mei pushed up his jersey with his free hand, exploring his skin and causing Eijun to shiver.

Mei must’ve felt his reaction as he smirked into the kiss.

Ass.

Eijun let go with one hand, his free hand wrapping around him and going under Mei’s jersey, exploring his skin.

This time, Mei moaned into the kiss, his grip tightening. His fingers kept roaming over his stomach and sides.

Eijun didn’t remember who pulled away first, only remembering that both leaned back in for another kiss. When Mei’s fingers moved up, brushing against his ice pack, Eijun shivered again, his knees starting to shake.

(He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he felt grateful Mei pinned him to the bathroom wall.)

Mei had to have felt his reaction, but he only pressed closer, still kissing him, his fingers moving back down to his stomach and sides.

Eijun didn’t want to lose, though, kissing him as hard as Mei kissed him, his fingers moving up Mei’s back.

I love you.

Mei’s kisses always excited him and made goosebumps form.

He couldn’t get enough of them.

Like pitching.

Mei’s kisses were as addictive as pitching.

Pitching always excited him and made goosebumps form.

It wasn’t always easy, of course.

Pitching involved a lot of hard work, and sometimes, that hard work went unnoticed and unrewarded.

Images of Cap and Boss choosing Furuya over him played in his mind, causing him to push them away.

Despite those rough times, though, he kept pitching.

Wanting to get better.

Wanting some acknowledgement.

Wanting to feel that addictive joy that came from throwing a nice pitch or getting a batter out.

While Mei didn’t acknowledge him that much, he always looked at him and never left him alone.

What he said earlier about his pitching being a fluke…

Eijun didn’t believe it.

Mei had somewhat acknowledged him today.

He had told him he wanted him on his team in the future.

Those words meant a lot to Eijun, and he wanted to keep them close to his heart for a long time.

I love you.

They kissed over and over, the rough and possessive kisses making Eijun feel warm all over.

Mei kept touching him with his fingers, pressing into his skin at certain spots, as if trying to leave marks.

Mei was so silly, trying to leave marks with his fingers, especially on spots where people wouldn’t see them.

(Didn’t Mei want people to see his marks?)

If Mei wanted to leave a mark, he should leave a hickey in a noticeable spot.

Almost immediately after he thought that, Mei pulled away, causing Eijun to whine despite himself. He moved closer, letting go of his jersey to unbutton it, biting a noticeable spot on his collarbone, causing Eijun to cry out.

Mei sucked on it, causing Eijun to moan. He wrapped a possessive arm around his waist, his other hand exploring Eijun’s back.

Mei’s cool hands felt nice against his warm skin and sent jolts of electricity up his spine.

Like waves at the beach cooling his body down from the sun’s hot rays.

Eijun somehow managed to stop himself from leaning into his touches, wincing when Mei finally pulled away.

Weird.

It didn’t normally hurt that much.

He looked down at the mark, but he couldn’t see it. He saw a trickle of something red, though.

… Hang on.

Something red?

He looked at Mei, his jaw dropping. “You… You bit me!” He winced again, reaching up to wipe the blood away, glaring at him. “What the hell!”

“You’re my boyfriend.”

Eijun shivered, not looking away from those dark eyes. “That doesn’t mean you can—!”

“Maybe everyone will finally understand after they see that.” Mei let go of him, his eyes still dark. After giving him one last long look, he turned and walked toward the exit.

Eijun reached out with one hand, leaning against the wall behind him. “Wait, Mei!”

He wanted to go after him, but his knees still felt shaky.

Mei stopped by the exit, looking over at him. He glanced down at his legs, his hands twitching.

“I…” Eijun stepped forward, moving away from the wall, ignoring the way his legs trembled. “I’m expecting an apology.” He stepped forward again, swaying before losing his balance and falling to his side, his left shoulder hitting the bathroom wall, causing him to wince.

Mei’s eyes widened. He stepped closer, reaching out with one hand, his hand hovering for a few moments, before letting it fall back to his side, glaring and gritting his teeth.

“I’ll wait for you, okay?” Eijun took another step forward, keeping his left hand on the wall, his eyes not looking away from Mei’s. He looked serious. “You better not let me down.”

I love you.

Mei stared at his left hand for a few moments before looking at him and huffing. “That should be my line. I’ll see you later.”

Eijun waited until after Mei left the bathroom to collapse to his knees. His lips twitched.

Mei had indirectly mentioned Koushien.

Mei wanted him to do well.

He should feel happy.

Maybe even relieved.

Instead, he felt tears forming.

Mei…

Mei had just watched him and didn’t even offer to help him.

He knew Mei still felt angry, but it still stung.

It stung almost as much as the bite mark Mei gave him.

Everything Mei said earlier came back to him, causing him to whimper.

He knew Mei hadn’t meant any of that, but the way Mei didn’t hesitate to hurt him, especially by bringing up Furuya…

Eijun chuckled, looking at the floor, his tears dropping onto the floor.

As expected of Mei.

He knew him well.

Knew how to hurt him where it hurt most.

Seidou beat Inashiro.

They were going to Koushien.

He should feel ecstatic.

These tears should be happy tears.

(No, that wasn’t right. He knew he couldn’t truly be happy about his victory. Not when he thought about Mei.)

This pain, though…

It felt like they lost.