Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It wasn’t like he started the whole thing to get recognition.

All of it started out as a mere hobby, an activity he could vent his pre-teen/early teen frustrations out on.

Kuramochi Youichi, or more known on the social media platform as Mocheetah, was a Japanese vlogger.

Honestly, his vlogging experience started out as a joke. He and some friends were carrying out a prank that they planned and he just so happened to have his camcorder on hi. and long story short, his first video on his channel was a nine minutes and twenty three seconds adventure that started off with his signature cackle of hyahaha! and ended with him and his friends collapsing on the ground of their neighbourhood park, out of breath and still laughing.

He didn’t expect anything to come out of it but when he checked the video again the next day – out of pure curiosity – he saw that the video got some replies.

Several people said they enjoyed it and he saw one person comment that he should probably get into editing, to make the video look nicer.

That was how he got into video editing.

A stranger online suggested he took up a class and he did.

He asked his mother if he could and she was more than happy to sign him up for one.

And so he learned how to edit.

As he was taking these classes, he still kept on uploading videos onto his channel and with every video, the content quality got better.

The range of his videos was wide. He didn’t have a specific type he stuck to. He filmed anything he was into at the time and enjoyed his time to the fullest.

His videos recorded everything he was into. His interest changes, his short-lived phases and his growth, both mentally and physically.

Because of his videos, he gained some recognition on the web and made friends with people from all over the globe. Speaking to these friends improved his English drastically.

He took his English lessons more seriously, something his mother was delighted to find out about, and he wouldn’t say he had mastered the language completely – grammar was a downright bitch – but he was at a level where he could fluently speak the language and interact with others without stumbling over his own words.

When he started his channel, he had just started middle school and was at the start of his rebellious phase.

It was his experimental phase, to put it simply.

He tried so many different things. Changed his mind several million times and did whatever the hell he wanted. Somewhere along the way, he even dyed his hair a nice bright yellow blonde.

The content of his channel was very random. He once uploaded a video of him hiking a mountain, a dark, poorly-lit video of his circle of friends going skinny dipping at a nearby lake in the middle of the night and a video of his late-night adventure when he went on the yearly school trip.

He did many things and he shared it with the internet, with the viewers he considered friends.

He did many things and a lot of them didn’t stick but what never changed was his love for exploring and baseball.

One of the many things he shared about himself with the World Wide Web was that he played baseball. He took the sport very seriously and genuinely enjoyed playing it. He took pride in his fast legs – some people said he was as fast as a cheetah – and is a shortstop.

His baseball videos were one of the viewer favourites. He filmed team practices, personal practices, practice games and official games. How he edited them made the videos more interesting. It was always fun to watch. The comments he would always get was how he seemed to look like he was genuinely, sincerely having fun whenever he swung a bat or put on a baseball glove.

Though his online persona was well-liked by his viewers, his real world self didn't share the same fate. Towards the end of his middle school life, he was known throughout the whole city for two things; his impressive baseball skills and his troublemaking tendencies.

It made it hard for him to find a good high school to go to, despite his undeniable talent in the sport.

No school in the area wanted to take him and it was around that time he started to consider his choices seriously. His habit of getting into fights was going to stop him from making it into a good high school baseball team and when it really hit him that that was the reality, he felt slightly regretful.

Until one day, when he went home, he was offered a full scholarship to a powerhouse baseball school in Tokyo.

Seidou High School, a school that went to nationals multiple times before. A powerhouse school who were one of the top four schools in West Tokyo. A school that gave birth to a lot of professional players.

As his teacher had once told him, it was better if he went outside the prefecture, where no one knew of his reputation.

It was a no-brainer, the offer.

He took it.

No one in his hometown wanted him anyways and honestly, Seidou beat out any school in his hometown.

Only after he accepted, he found out about his friends and their unhealthy lifestyle.

Excited to tell them of his new high school plan, he overheard his ‘friends’ talking about him at the entrance of their hideout. 

Again, long story short, he told them of his offer to Seidou and left, feeling quite heartbroken and betrayed.

That was the turning point. He sobered up, let his hair turn back to its original colour and concentrated more on school and baseball.

His videos slowed down a bit but he still uploaded biweekly. The videos he uploaded were of his nightly ventures around his hometown and there was one of him teaching the neighbourhood kids how to play baseball.

It was safe to say that his peers noticed the change in him.

He avoided his friends and actually paid attention in class, successfully scaring most of his teachers.

Things were slow and nothing exciting happened much but that was about to change.

He was going off to Tokyo, a different city with a completely different atmosphere.

Life was moving on and he was going with it.

Chapter Text

He switched on the lights and sat back on his swivel chair as the red light blinked on, indicating that his camera was currently recording.

“Hello,” he said, looking into the camera with a smile that lacked its usual brightness. It was probably around eleven at night and he just finished up packing and cleaning his room for the final time before leaving.

He didn’t have that many things to bring with him to the new dorms he would be staying in for the next three years but his room was a complete mess.

And he didn’t want to come home to a rat’s den next break.

He picked up his mug filled with freshly brewed tea with both hands and took a small sip before he lowered it, keeping his hold on the mug as he steadied it on his lap, “It’s probably midnight or something right now, I don’t even know anymore,” he said, blinking tiredly. “Remember when I told you guys a few months ago? That I would be moving to the capital for high school? Well, tomorrow’s the day I’m heading down there.”

He took another sip from his tea and placed it on the coaster on top of his desk, his free hand running through his locks in a sorry attempt to sort out the knots. He quickly gave up and addressed the camera again, “I didn’t go into detail a few months ago. I didn’t want to jinx it, you know? This is Seidou we’re talking about here,” he said, a lazy smile brightening up his expression. “For you guys who don’t know, Seidou’s the high school that I will be going to. It’s considered a baseball powerhouse school here in Japan. They’re top four in the West Tokyo bracket and that bracket is one of the most competitive in the country. They haven’t been to nationals for half a decade though but they’re like, shit strong. And they want me. Got offered full scholarship to play there.”

“Maybe you guys heard it before, but high school sports tournaments are really intense here in Japan. For any type of sport,” said Kuramochi, chuckling. “We’re such a small island yet there’s like five million athletically talented people here. Just my luck, I guess.”

He yawned and then sighed, shaking his head slightly, “Well, that’s all I wanted to say really. Just to properly tell you guys I’m going off to. I can’t bring most of equipment with me tomorrow on the train down to Tokyo, because you know, not enough hands, but I already packed up most of it up and mom will post it to me. I’ll film my journey to Seidou’s dorm rooms and when my gear arrives, I’ll edit and upload it. Things are going to get busy soon but I won’t fall off the face of the earth. Rest assured. That’s all for this video. If you enjoyed this video, you can…”

And after he recited the typical ending of his videos, he turned off the camera and slumped back on his chair.

He’ll have to edit and upload it tonight and then he could finally sleep.

Hopefully, his alarm will work and he’ll get ready without having to panic over the very possible possibilities of him missing the bullet train.

Hopefully.

Fortunately, God still loved him.

He heard his alarm – and groaned in annoyance when Pierce The Veil’s Currents Convulsive blared through his speakers, wailing for him to wake up.

He hit dismiss just before the second verse started, drowsily sitting up. The tanned boy reached out to his tableside, groping around for his bottle of water.

After taking in a decent amount of mineral water, he felt freshened by just a bit, just enough to drag himself out of bed.

A quick shower woke him up completely and he was finally awake enough to feel an assortment of emotions about the trip he was going to take.

“You’ll be fine, You-chan,” his mother said from across him.

They were eating what would be their last breakfast together for a long time to come and somehow, his mother had telepathically sensed his distress.

“I’m your mother,” she said, looking at him from under lashes. “I’ve raised you to be a big boy. You’ll be fine.”

“Who’s not fine?” Kuramochi said stubbornly, stabbing at a piece of pancake, his favourite breakfast meal. “I’m perfectly fine. Right, gramps?”

The tone of his voice went a tone higher but it didn’t fool the drowsy old man who just walked into the kitchen area.

“You’ll never get a girlfriend if you don’t toughen up, Youichi,” said his grandfather, patting him roughly on the shoulder.

“I doubt I’ll even have enough time to talk to girls,” said the shortstop, scowling. “Training’s going to eat up most of my time and I have to pay attention in class.”

“What for? You’re there on a baseball scholarship, aren’t you? You don’t have to worry so much about your grades!” the old man chuckled heartily.

“I still have to do well in case the whole baseball thing doesn’t work,” replied Kuramochi. “And it’d be bad for the team’s rep if the players are all idiots. Baseball needs brains too.”

The Kuramochi matriarch looked at her son, silent for a second before she turned away, sniffling.

“Mom, are you crying?” Kuramochi asked, suddenly panicked, dropping his cutlery as he attempted to console her. “No, don’t cry! You don’t have anything to cry about! I’ll call you all the time and I’ll come home when I can! I promise! Please don’t cry!”

“My son is all grown up!” his mother said, sniffing as she wiped away the tears brimming in her eyes. “Just a few months ago you didn’t want to talk to us and went out and got into trouble all the time! I was so worried you wouldn’t get into a good high school but I was so relieved Seidou offered you a place. And now you’re talking about your education seriously. I don’t know what happened in the past few months but it seems like you’re growing up so fast, right in front of my eyes and it’s making me a bit teary.”

“A bit teary?” Grandpa chuckled again, handing her a box of Kleenex. “Honey, you’re nearly bawling.”

“I really didn’t want to cry on the day you’re leaving,” his mother sobbed, dabbing at the corners of her eyes. “But what can I do? My baby boy is leaving home for the first time in fifteen years. It’s a big moment for me as your mother.”

Kuramochi rarely ever saw his mother cry in front of him. She cried on dad’s birthday, on their anniversary and his death anniversary. She cries when money gets a little too tight or whenever she couldn’t afford to buy him new baseball equipment.

She would always try to avoid crying in front of him, waiting until after he turned in to let out her frustrations and sadness. It didn’t work well. The walls aren’t really that thick and she’s a loud drunk.

“I’ll call you when I get there,” he said finally. “It’s not a long train ride down. You can visit whenever.”

She nodded, wiping the tears off her face and the rest of the meal was spent in silence.

He checked his bags once again and turned on his vlogging camera, filming the hallway of his home before turning to his mother. She sobered up and slapped on a smile, if only just for his camera.

“Call me when you get there, Youichi,” she said, waving him goodbye.

“I will. Bye mom. Bye Gramps,” he said, waving back from behind the camera, stepping out the door and when it clicked shut, he sighed.

Kuramochi turned the camera to face himself, flashing it a smile as he continued down the stairs of his apartment block. “My mom has an early shift today so she couldn’t send me to the station,” he explained, laughing it off. “And I don’t want Grandpa to be out without anyone around. God knows what he can get caught up in if no one’s watching him.”

He didn’t talk much for the rest of the journey, only filming the scenery around him.

This would be his final walk around town. He never liked the place much but he will miss it when homesickness hits him. It would be his first time staying away from his family for more than a week and he didn’t know how to feel about it.

“Say goodbye to Chiba,” he said to the camera, turning it around to film the bust train station. “We won’t be here for a while. Next stop, Tokyo~”

The train ride was uneventful, he recorded the scenery for a bit before calling it quits to go through the footage he captured.

Seidou High School was huge and the baseball facility was amazing.

The scout who recruited him, Takashima Rei, met him at the front gate. She showed him around, informing him of the important places.

There were two fields, typically named Ground A and Ground B.

Ground A was used for the first-string’s practices and friendly inter-squad games or occasionally, practice matches against other schools. Ground B was for the second-string players and generally used as a place to simulate another team’s play.

They also had an indoor practice ground, right beside the dorms. Earth was laid out underneath, just like any other baseball field. He was told that the indoor practice grounds was typically used during rainy seasons but the players, first-string or not, come by after dinner to practice their swings.

Finally, he was brought to the Greenhorn Dorm, his home for the next three years.

After being showed the cafeteria, which also dubbed as the universal meeting room, he was told his room number and left to find it himself.

Room number five. Room 105.

He honestly didn’t what to expect when he knocked on the door but nearly dropping his camera was not one of them.

The door to his new room opened and a white face suddenly appeared, successfully scaring the shit out of him and nearly causing him to drop his precious camera.

Apparently, it was a room tradition to scare the shit out of the newcomer.

He was totally going to edit out that girlish scream from the video. Definitely.

It was safe to say that the first week of high school was downright hellish.

The uniform was stuffy, the class was suffocating and the students should learn to shut up.

Practice was awful – he managed to piss off the head coach on the first day – and all they did was run laps.

By the end of the first week, he was ready to pack up and leave. The only thing that made him rethink his choices was his filming equipment at the corner of the room.

His senpais were out to practice their swings so he had the room to himself.

When everything was in order, he switched on the camera and waved, charming smile aimed at the lens. “Hello Internet, we meet again after a tediously long, exhausting, unfun, suckish, hellish week. I’m back, not entirely rejuvenated but I don’t think I’ll ever have full energy for the next three years anyways.”

He rubbed an itch at the side of his neck and continued on, “High school sucks, as expected. It’s normal, I guess. Okay, moving on. Today I thought we’d do a Q&A. I asked you guys to send me questions on Twitter with the hashtag AskMocheetah or to drop an ask at my Tumblr. So here goes.”

He pressed the hashtag and waited for it to load, wondering what kind of questions he’ll get.

Danya @Miyukiss
How was your first day of highschool? #AskMocheetah

He read out the question and laughed quietly, “Well, Danya,” he said, probably fucking up the pronunciation but who cares about the little details. “It sucked. If I wasn’t clear enough in my introduction, it sucked. The first day of school didn’t go really well for me. I didn’t make any new friends either.”

poacher-chan @Kayosans
#AskMocheetah since u wanted to put yr past rep behind u, did u change yr image? specifically, wht happened to the precious earrings?

Again, he read the question out. He leaned forward towards the camera, showcasing his left ear. “As you can see, the earrings are gone. I’m keeping them all open so if you see me in real life, I have these little translucent sticks poking out of my ears. I took them out because I don’t want to lose them during practice. We do pretty rough exercises and having like five earrings per ear is a danger hazard so I took them off,” he said, touching his ears gently. “I didn’t change my image much. Probably the reason I still have no friends. I look exactly like I did before I came here just with no earrings and natural hair colour.”

                                  @lionlove9712
anyone worth mentioning from school? #AskMocheetah

“Yes, several,” he answered after reading the question to the camera. “Well, there’s this guy in class. He’s on the same baseball team and god, how I would love to throw him down a ditch and never look back. He’s irritating. Bad personality but absolute genius. He looks very familiar for some reason. I swear I’ve seen him somewhere before. Yeah, well, there’s him. And I guess, Seidou’s first string. I’ve seen them in play and they’re so good. They’re worth mentioning.”

He answered several more questions before he deemed it enough to last at least five minutes.

“And with that, I end our Q&A!” he said, putting his phone down. “I’m going off to edit the travelling down to Tokyo video and this video. I will probably upload this video first and then the trip video. So be sure to check that out. That’s all from me. If you enjoyed…”

He ended the video just in time. Several minutes later, his roommates came in.

They didn’t ask about his lamps and other equipment. Instead, they just wiped off the sweat and grabbed their towels, heading back out to the baths.

He brought his laptop to his bed and plugged in his headphones, looking back at the footage once again.

Kuramochi sighed, grabbing the bottle of mineral water at the edge of his bed and gulped down what little was left.

His high school experience was starting out very sourly but it’ll get better.

Or so he hoped.

Chapter Text

Really, he didn’t mean to get involved.

Kuramochi was on his way back from school, thinking about the rounds they’ll be forced to run later on during practice.

That was when he passed by the scene, and try however he might, he couldn’t just walk away after seeing the scene.

So with a reluctant sigh, he dropped his book bag and took off his blazer. He neared them as he rolled his sleeves up, looking deeply unimpressed.

Before him were four boys; three of them were upperclassmen from another sports team and the one was his irritating classmate slash teammate.

Miyuki Kazuya, bespectacled and annoyingly good-looking, was pinned against the wall by one of the upperclassmen. Even in this situation, he still had that smirk on his face.

It was safe to say that the confrontation didn’t go very well.

Not only was Kuramochi outnumbered 3 to 1, but he was up against trained athletes and they weren’t anything to sneeze at.

Five minutes later, the shortstop was sporting a split lip and a dirt stained shirt. He leaned against the wall, trying to keep himself upright as he coughed deeply.

He was definitely going to have bruises to show for this.

It ended when Miyuki deliberately coughed out loud, catching their attention. In one hand was his phone, pointed directly at them.

“I’ve been recording since you guys forced me come with you,” said Miyuki, nodding to his phone. “I recorded for insurance, you know? As we all know, bullying can get you expelled. If Mochi over there wants to press charges for assault, you guys will be in bigger trouble. No good school or sports team would want a bully in their ranks.”

That was enough to get them to scram, shouting some choice words before disappearing.

Now Kuramochi and Miyuki were sitting with their backs against the wall in silence. The former was flinching as he touched some parts of his body while the latter looked at the video he recorded.

“Shouldn’t you be thanking me?” Kuramochi grumbled, trying to regulate his breathing again.

“I didn’t ask you to intervene,” Miyuki pointed out brightly.

“They would have smashed your face if I didn’t.”

To this, Miyuki nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly, “That’s absolutely true. But instead of me, you got your face did in.”

“I don’t think I can go in for practice.”

“I’ll tell coach someone beat you up and now you’re resting.”

Kuramochi stared at him, “You’re going to turn the video in?” he asked.

“Of course not. That’ll destroy their lives,” said Miyuki. “I’ll make something up to the coach, then we can call it even.”

“I took a beating for you and you’re calling it even by covering for me?” Kuramochi summed up, a frown on his face.

“We still have time before practice starts,” Miyuki told him. “I’ll apply some first aid on you. Or I can take you to the infirmary?”

“First aid,” the shortstop chose without hesitation. “Grab my stuff and find a first aid kit. I’ll be in Room 5.”

Miyuki helped him back on his feet and waved him goodbye, picking up the book bag as he passed by it.

Unfortunately for Kuramochi, just as he opened the door to his room, Masuko was on his way out. He had no excuse for his condition and his roommate immediately interrogated him on how he managed to get all those bruises.

Later that night, the second years – Masuko’s friends – came to visit and informed him that they already met with the kids who did it to him.

At the corner of the room, Miyuki grinned as the news was relayed.

Funnily enough, this was how their friendship started.

It only took Kuramochi, who was shit awful at making friends, a fight and some bruises to finally make one.

A few days later, Kuramochi’s inbox and notifications were suddenly flooded.

He came back from evening practice, sweaty and tired and he noticed that the LED light was blinking red, indicating notifications were in.

Honestly, he sees it every time he returns from practice. His social media accounts were never silent, after all.

So he grabbed his towel and headed to the bath.

When he finally came back with a towel over his damp hair, he opened his phone.

 mo :o mo :o @3V3ERL8
you didnt tell us you were friends with THE Kaz Miki??? @mocheetah

ol ji @2jie
DO A COLLAB WITH KAZ @mocheetah 

;-; @nihhoncakes
I can’t believe my favourite internet personalities @mocheetah & @KazMiki are friends

#GetMochiFriends @ygnsul
did u actually save @KazMiki from getting assaulted? thats awesome!!!!! @mocheetah

Mori @666mochi
so @mocheetah and @KazMiki are on the same baseball team? i HAVE to go see one of their matches

yoko life @hellkid
@mocheetah was kaz the classmate you were complaining about in your Q&A vid? sure sounds like him

                                @mocheeks
i’m glad you have a friend now!!

His Twitter notifications were flooded with the familiar sounding username.

When he opened the @KazMiki profile, something finally clicked.

No wonder he thought Miyuki’s face was familiar.

Miyuki Kazuya turned out to be a popular internet personality who was known for his Tumblr blog and went by the alias Kaz Miki. It was actually just his real name, only just butchered to less words.

He was famous for several things; his handsome face, smashing body and amazing cosplays to name a few.

Soon after he took to social media, they found out that he wasn’t just another pretty face on Tumblr, but he also had a brain. He spoke up on sensitive issues and shared his own experiences as a gay Japanese teen.  

Kaz was popular amongst the youth in Japan because he was the opposite of the nation’s generally conservative image and mentality. His views were controversial and he was outspoken.

They liked that Kaz was different and most of them shared his opinions. They related to him and were relieved to have an icon to look up to that wasn’t scared to be heard.

Kuramochi knew who Kaz Miki was, of course. It was impossible to not know him, especially if you’re on Japanese social media.

Only, he never really followed Kaz's online activities. He heard the name in passing multiple times and seen some of his cosplays, but now that he thought about it, he never really saw his face without any of the heavy makeup. 

Who would've known that he and Kaz Miki, who really turned out to be the scheming tanuki Miyuki, were in the same school and even shared the same class.

“Did he post something?” Kuramochi wondered, scrolling through his notifications to look for links.

One of his followers did send him a link and he sighed as he waited for it to load.

It didn’t take long for the Tumblr post to load and for him to read it all. By the end of it, he rolled his eyes, not really annoyed, just slightly embarrassed.

kazmiki

Guess what happened at school

As you all know, I’ve been accepted into Seidou on a baseball scholarship. As you all expected, and some of you even pm’d me to tell me, I didn’t make any friends. Not really a shocker. But baseball’s been great. The first string is as amazing as you’d imagine.

However, that isn’t what I wanted to update you guys on.

My blog isn’t really a national secret, is it? Even if I use Kaz Miki as an alias, people still know who I am outside. Even with the lack of makeup on my face in my daily life can’t hide my beauty. Anyone who’s been on the internet on this side of the world would know who I am by just looking at my face.

So naturally, I’d get a hater or two harassing me every now and then.

I just didn’t expect them to be so close and so bold.

Three fellows came to me a few days ago and told me to go with them somewhere after school. I didn’t have a choice but to go with them. If I didn’t go myself, they’d probably drag me by the hair and force me to come along anyways.

They asked me for nudes. Imagine that? I don’t think they were even into guys. They just wanted to humiliate me probably. Asked for a free show.

Laughable, right? Just because I’m gay and look like I could use a good fuck, they thought I was going to give them my nudes and a free show.

I told them to take a hike and boom, got forced against a wall, and they threatened me. Said they’d beat me up.

I was expecting a beating, really, I did, but a classmate stepped in. It’s safe to say we’re friends now.

You guys might know him.

Kuramochi, or Mocheetah as he’s known on the web.

Came in and tried to take them on by himself. Got his ass whooped as expected, but it’s the thought that counts. I must say though, for a three on one fight, Kuramochi sure put up a good fight. He threw in some good punches.

I took a photo of them beating up Kuramochi and they ran away real fast. Blackmail material at its finest.

He’s fine, if any of you are worried. I did some first aid on him and some upperclassmen went to see the kids who beat him up.

We’re all good. He’s still grumbling about his body being sore, but I think he’s just being a baby. We started hanging out more around each other after that.

So bottom line, your boy has someone to spend recess with now.

The next day, Kuramochi brought up the topic during recess.

“So you knew who I was?” he asked Miyuki, tearing open the plastic covering his bread.

“I think everyone here knows who you are,” said Miyuki, shrugging. “You’re quite famous.”

It wasn’t as if Kuramochi was trying to be humble when he said, in many of his videos, that he didn’t think his channel was all that known.

He knew that people in his town watched some of his videos, but he always thought they did that it was just because they knew him and felt like they had to.

“But you’re not the only internet personality that goes to Seidou,” the bespectacled boy told him.

“Yeah, well, you’re here, aren’t you?”

Miyuki laughed, his expression showing that he was very amused. “There’s a lot more internet famous people than just you and me, Mochi. There’s a lot, especially on the baseball team. Take Masuko-senpai for one. He has a food critic channel and does weekly mukbangs.”

“How do you know that?” Kuramochi asked.

“I like to surf the web,” Miyuki answered simply. “Information and knowledge are weapons needed to survive, you know.”

The tanned boy nodded noncommittally. There was a short pause before he looked over to Miyuki again, “Did those guys who were trying to beat you up really demanded your nudes?’ he asked.

Miyuki nodded, affirming.

"Why would they do that?"

“I say some controversial stuff online. Not everyone likes it,” said the bespectacled boy with an exaggerated sigh. “They thought they could scare me into stopping.”

“They’re stupid,” Kuramochi muttered under his breath.

“They are,” Miyuki agreed softly, a bittersweet smile gracing his face.

For his next video, Kuramochi thought he’d post an explore video again and add a sunset clipat the end.

He decided beforehand that won’t record his teammates’ training nor will he record the baseball facilities out of respect for their privacy.

After evening practice on Wednesday, he grabbed his camera and headed out. There was still some daylight left and he wasn’t going to waste it.

Kuramochi steadily held the camera and walked through the school and then went to explore the outskirts of the school. When he was done taking shots of the school, he found a grassy patch near the fence to sit on.

He took out his tripod and set his camera up facing the direction of where the sun would set.

There was still a lot of time left till the sun would set, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

It was a great spot. The camera captured the silhouette of the top of the school buildings and the path in which the sun would set in. He did some observations a few days before to get the best spot.

If it was done correctly, it would turn out beautiful.

But alas, Kuramochi was only human. Exhausted from the prior training, he managed to doze off while waiting for the sun to set. Luckily for him, the camera was already recording.

When he came to, it was already dark and there was an unknown jacket over him.

With his mind still a little jumbled from the nap, he unsteadily got up, his legs feeling slightly wobbly beneath him.

He stopped the recording and let out a short yawn, trying to get his thoughts back in order.

Kuramochi got up, unknown jacket in one hand and the tripod in the other.

All the way back to his room, he wondered who stopped by to give him the jacket, and why did they not wake him up?

It felt strange, but he was convinced that whoever gave him the jacket would surely be caught in the footage of his camera.

All he had to do was watch it later and then return the jacket back to its rightful owner.

Chapter Text

The video didn’t help.

Coincidentally, the person who he assumed gave him the jacket came into the shot just as the sun was setting.

In other words, the camera caught nothing but a mysterious silhouette with a pretty halo around it.

Whoever it was must have noticed the camera and avoided it, but there was a soft chuckle just shortly after the person went out of the camera vision.

Assuming his gut feeling was correct, that was probably when the jacket was given to him.

Kuramochi sighed as he finished up his editing. The footage was a bust and now he was left with feeling more frustrated and curious about this mysterious passer-by.

At practice that day, Kuramochi was delighted to hear that the coach was letting several selected first-years to practice with the first-string players.

The coach explained that later that week, there would be a scrimmage between the first-years and the second-string to decide who would get to fill the last remaining spots on the first-string lineup.

It was an exciting chance and Kuramochi wasn’t going to let it slip by.

After running the mandatory three rounds, the coach paired the members of the first-years and the first-strings together and gave them free reign on the rest of their training.

Kuramochi, a first-year shortstop, was naturally paired with the second-year second baseman, Kominato Ryousuke.

The second baseman was small in size compared to the rest, but he was just as good at baseball as the rest of them. He had bubble gum pink hair, narrow eyes and a constant smirk on his face.

Before they had time to exchange pleasantries, the upperclassman threw the ball at him with impressive speed.

“You suck,” Ryousuke concluded, walking up to his poor partner. “You should’ve been able to catch that.”

The ball that he threw managed to hit Kuramochi’s left thigh and it was currently aching.

And that was how his first meeting with Kominato Ryousuke went.

“A warning would’ve been nice,” Kuramochi muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately, Ryousuke heard him and grinned to himself. “When the opponent starts warning you when they’re hitting the ball at you, I’ll start too.”

Any other thoughts the freshman had was kept in his head.

Kominato Ryousuke, despite being only a second-year, was the second baseman on the starting line-up.

The club hosted over a hundred players and being on the first-string was already a feat, what more being on the starting line-up.

Skills don’t lie. Ryousuke’s skills as a batter and a baseman was impressive to say the least. Despite his size and raw power, he was just as good, sometimes even better, than the players twice his size.

Instinct and agility were one of the many skills needed when one is fielding, and Ryousuke got it down to pat.

One would even say that Kominato Ryousuke had it all; skills, smarts and looks.

If only his attitude wasn’t as blunt and aggravating as it was.

“Kominato Ryousuke?” Miyuki repeated the name, already amused. “Why are you asking?”

Kuramochi almost immediately regretted his decision to ask Miyuki for more information on their senior. The knowing glint in the bespectacled boy’s eyes definitely meant that he was taking it the wrong way.

“We’re going to be partners after the third-years retire. Might as well know more about him,” he explained, hoping that Miyuki would understand where he was coming from. “That’s it.”

“That’s it, eh?” Miyuki echoed, unconvinced. While he would have loved to continue teasing his new friend, he graciously opted not to. “He’s a second baseman, bats second in the line-up and has quite a mouth on him. Is in the second-year starting line-up squad. Good friends with your own roommate, Masuko-san.”

“Really?” Kuramochi said. He never recalled seeing Ryousuke anywhere before.

“It would be best if you get in his good books,” advised Miyuki. “Tetsu-san and Jun-san are candidates for the next captain and Ryousuke-san, who is their close friend, would have free reign when the third-years retire. If he gets pissed, no one’s going to be able to stop him.”

“He can’t possibly be unstoppable, right? You’re over exaggerating.”

Miyuki laughed and raised his hands in surrender. “I might have bluffed a bit, but that doesn’t change the fact that you should try to get along with him. If you two don’t have chemistry, you better bet the best position you’ll get is as a benchwarmer on the first-string.”

Miyuki must have noticed his sour face after practicing with Ryousuke earlier.

He sighed to himself, feeling slightly dispirited.

After spending time with Miyuki, Kuramochi learned the hard way that he should listen to the boy’s advice.

“Anything else I should know about him?” Kuramochi asked with a defeated sigh.

“It has nothing to do with his baseball skills,” said Miyuki, “but Ryousuke-san is a famous blogger. I don’t follow it, though I did hear that it’s some kind of self-help slash personal blog? It’s very aesthetic. I’ve seen screenshots of it on Tumblr.”

“Another internet personality?”

“Yep,” Miyuki affirmed happily. “He’s much known in the blogging world, but if you’re not into that kind of thing, then you probably never heard of him before.”

“I guess that explains it,” said Kuramochi. “Thanks.”

They were on their way back to the dorms after evening practice. Everyone around them were dragging their feet as well, exhausted from practice.

The two freshmen bid each other dull goodbyes and parted ways.

“Kuramochi-chan?”

The boy in question rolled over in his bed, turning his head towards his roommate, Masuko. “Yeah?”

Masuko was sitting at his desk, a towel still over his damp hair. He looked as if he was trying to recall something. “Did Ryou-chan stop by earlier when I was in the baths?”

“Ryou-chan?” Kuramochi echoed, equally confused.

“Oh, right. Kominato Ryousuke. The one with the pink hair.”

Kuramochi shook his head. No one entered the room while Masuko was away. Their third-year roommate was already out swinging his bat at the indoor training grounds.

“Why?” he asked.

At this, Masuko nodded to the jacket on the back of Kuramochi’s chair, the one someone had put over him when he was filming the other day. “That’s his jacket. Only starters have it. His had a small blue stain on his sleeve because Jun spilled ink on it.”

True to what he said, the jacket did have a small blue stain on its left sleeve.

“It’s Kominato-senpai’s jacket?” Kuramochi asked, sitting up now.

“Yeah. I just noticed it,” Masuko said, nodding his head slowly. “We asked him where his jacket was earlier when he said he was cold. He just shrugged it off. Where did you find it?”

“On me.”

Masuko looked at him sceptically, an eyebrow raised.

Kuramochi sighed. He sat up and pointed at his camera placed neatly on his study table. “I was filming the sunset a few days ago and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was on me. I’ve been trying to find out who it belongs to, but my camera only caught a silhouette.”

To his surprise, Masuko suddenly had a look of confusion before he started to apologize profusely.

“Why are you apologizing to me, Masuko-senpai?” he asked, slightly shocked from the sudden apologies.

“It sounded like I was accusing you of taking it,” Masuko said, sounding incredibly guilty. “I didn’t think that at all. I was confused why you started explaining and then it hit me. I’m really sorry if it sounded like I was accusing you.”

Silence fell between them and the two boys stared at each other for a solid ten seconds.

The moment was ruined when Kuramochi burst out laughing, his hyena-like laughter filling the whole room.

Masuko Tooru was a nice person, Kuramochi acknowledged that soon after moving into the dorms. While he had a big figure and a less than friendly face, he was probably gentler than most people in the team.

To think that he felt sorry for something so little, Kuramochi couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s fine. I’ve had people think worse of me. It’s okay,” he said reassuringly.

Despite the younger boy assuring him that it was okay, Masuko still felt bad. He even shared a cup of pudding as a way to make up for it.

Like the good person he is, Kuramochi accepted his roommate’s efforts to make it up to him, reassuring him every two minutes that he wasn’t offended by the bigger boy’s words.

It was 2 a.m. and Kuramochi was still awake.

His hand reached for his phone under his pillow, feeling slightly conflicted.

4 eyes tanuki

are u awake??

i need a second opinion so wake up

wake

up

oi

!!!!

wake up four-eyes
sent 2:11 AM
read 2:14 AM

Fuck off

glad u woke up

You better have a good reason as to
why you’re bothering me at two in
the fucking morning.

i do

is it weird if i were to give back a jacket to
 the owner

Are you drunk?

Did you wake me up to just ask me
that?

No, it’s not weird.

the thing is that he gave it to me when i was asleep
so i don’t really know if its him or not

Then how do you know the jacket is
his?

his friend told me

Explain to me the context.

when i was filming the other day

i fell asleep and when i woke up

theres this jacket over me

the owner was gone by the time i woke up

but his friend told me earlier whos the owner

so is it weird if i were to give it to him??

So who is the owner?

I’m assuming you’re talking about the
first-string varsity jacket I saw
hanging on your chair.

Which first-stringer is it?

uh

yeah

its kominato ryousuke

Yikes. I see the problem now.

Just give it to him.

He won’t kill you for giving back his
jacket.

I think.

dont even joke abt that

if he kills me, tell my gramps to get rid of the
box under my bed

You won’t die.

Ryousuke-san isn’t that bad.

Now, kindly fuck off.

I’m going back to sleep.

nights four-eyes
sent 2:37 AM
read 2:37 AM

The first-string players were in the batting pen, swinging away at incredibly fast balls.

So far, Ryousuke hasn’t missed one ball.

The way he swung that metal bat was probably strong enough to break a bone.

 “Stop staring at him,” said Miyuki, jogging beside Kuramochi with ease.

The first-years were still running laps and it was visibly taking a toll on the new recruits.

The idea was to tire out the newbies before the scrimmage with the second-stringers that very weekend.

So far, the idea was working great. Everyone, with the exception of a select few, looked drained and ready to throw in the towel.

Kuramochi threw his bespectacled friend a glare before looking forward again. “I’m not staring at him.”

“Anyone can see that you were trying to stare a hole through him,” said Miyuki, chuckling. “Corner him after dinner. He won’t have any bats on him then.”

“I’m not scared of him.”

“You seem to have bad sixth sense. He’s the devil incarnate. You should be scared of him.”

The shortstop rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath about shoving something into Miyuki’s hole.

“I’m joking,” Miyuki laughed again. “Honestly, Ryousuke-san’s not going to hurt you. The worst that will happen is that he’ll make fun of your dick size.”

“That’s reassuring,” said Kuramochi mockingly.

“And besides, you’re just returning his jacket. You did nothing wrong. He’s a reasonable person. He won’t curse at you if you did nothing wrong.”

Miyuki’s little pep talk increased his confidence slightly and he decided then that he would see the upperclassman later on.

He should have never listened to Miyuki.

Nothing good ever comes from listening to the catcher.

Kuramochi had finished dinner early, gulping down his three bowls of rice with gusto before hurrying out.

On his way out, he saw Ryousuke chatting with his friends at the table near the back. His bowl still seemed full.

That brought him to his current predicament.

Kuramochi Youichi, famous vlogger and shortstop extraordinaire, was sitting against the wall near the cafeteria. He was just around the corner, the varsity jacket neatly folded on his lap.

Several upperclassmen had already finished their dinner and were on their way back to their rooms. There was no doubt that they were just there to take their bats before heading out to practice again.

As they passed by him, sitting in the dark corridor beside the cafeteria, they gave him questioning looks, but no one was curious enough to actually ask him what he was doing.

He must have been waiting there for about twenty minutes when he heard the familiar sound of Ryousuke’s laughter.

How he managed to recognize his upperclassman’s laugh, he had no idea, but he felt his heart suddenly beat faster and he took deep, calming breaths to counter his nervousness.

Ryousuke and his friends just rounded the corner and they, like everyone else, gave him inquiring looks.

“Kominato-senpai, can I talk to you for a bit?” he managed to ask, standing up immediately. He gave himself kudos for not sounding as nervous as he felt.

The pink-haired boy nodded to his friends and they continued on their way, leaving the two alone.

When they were out of earshot, Ryousuke looked at him expectantly. “So you wanted to say…?”

“I wanted to give back your jacket,” said Kuramochi, holding out the jacket with both hands.

“So you knew I gave it to you,” Ryousuke said, taking the jacket from the lowerclassman.

The air was awkward between them and Kuramochi grinned, try hard to seem calm. “Masuko-senpai told me it was yours. It was hanging on my chair before.”

“It was the ink, wasn’t it?”

“…yeah…”

“Well, thank you for returning it,” said Ryousuke, giving him a small smile. “I don’t think you should get into the habit of sleeping on the grounds, though, especially with your fancy-looking camera out in plain sight like that. I can’t promise you that everyone here is as righteous and nice as I am.”

“Oh,” Kuramochi said, feeling slightly embarrassed. “I won’t. It was a mistake the other day. I don’t go around sleeping on grass, ha ha.”

Ryousuke’s smile widened by a fraction. “Thank you again for the jacket. I have to get going. They probably started without me.”

“Oh,” Kuramochi said again, suddenly flustered. “Sorry for holding you up—”

“It’s okay,” said Ryousuke, cutting him off. “I’ll see you at the scrimmage. Practice hard because last time we practiced together, you sucked.”

The older boy walked off, jacket in one hand and the other in his pocket.

Kuramochi took another deep breath before releasing it.

Kominato Ryousuke was possibly the only person who can make him feel that nervous by just existing.

Never in his fifteen years of life had he met someone who made his heart beat fast and his blood boil at the same time.

4 eyes tanuki

How did it go?

im still alive

He didn’t kill you. Congrats.

idk why i felt so nervous lmao

 i was literally just giving back his jacket

Yeah.

but you know

i dont usually get nervous

its literally impossible to get me shookedt

you shouldve seen me

i was so docile

i nearly didn’t recognize who i was

You were docile?

Liar.

that was my reaction at first too

kominato-senpai has that effect on me

he makes me think

five time before opening my mouth

That’s weird.

You say everything that comes to your
mind though.

Sometimes I feel like you’re
pulling shit out of your ass when you
open your mouth.

ha ha

well thats over now

better focus on the scrimmage

dont cry if i make it to first-string and you dont

They basically have a spot with my name on
it already.

Keep dreaming, loser.

just dont cry too much later ok??

bye wimp