Disclaimer: I owned nothing.

Warning: Spoilers Alert!

AN: Finally it's here. I'm like almost a week late but I really want to get this done as soon as I can.

So here it is! Ink-chan's birthday fic for Miyuki!

It's also for Misawa Week Day 7 too!
Prompt: Birthday

Happy (belated) Birthday, Miyuki! :D

Simple

"Strike! Batter Out!"

The umpire in the television announced loudly.

"Game set!"

"Miyuki-kun? Watanabe-kun?" and a sudden but gentle and soft voice of a woman resonated through the room as assistant director Takashima Rei entered. "Are you two still watching the game our next opponent had played yesterday?"

As a response, two pairs of eyes landed on Takashima as she stopped in her tracks beside the two teenagers currently sitting in front of the television, before one of them, Watanabe, greeted her.

"Oh, Rei-chan, good work for the day," the captain acknowledged and greeted the bespectacled woman as well before he turned back to the television watching the two teams standing in line for the after-game bow. "Well, since I'm not tired because I didn't play today, I thought I'd watch the game with Nabe to get some data on our next opponent."

"I see…" the woman smiled as she watched Miyuki taking the remote controller to rewind the scene on the television again. "But before that, are you done with your treatment exercises and stretches already, Miyuki-kun?"

"Haha, of course!" Miyuki declared cheerily with a grin upon that question while he pushed a button on the remote for the video to continue playing. "Don't worry, Rei-chan. Since I promised you that I'll rest and concentrate on recovery after the fall tournament, I won't be reckless again."

Then to her surprise, the captain had turned and was looking at her, with a determined smile and eyes on his face this time. "Because I plan on recovering as soon as I can and then go to the spring Koushien with the team next year after all."

And Takashima found herself smiling again at the captain's declaration, glad and proud of such perseverance showed by him. She had thought that Miyuki would be very displeased about not being able to play at all during the Meiji Jingu Baseball tournament and even though he was the captain he could only stay on bench and help support the team in whatever ways he could.

But she was proven wrong, and it was the first time she was glad about it. It also reminded her that Miyuki was one of the strongest players in terms of skills and in spirit, so she actually had nothing to worry about for the catcher.

However, she soon frowned when her eyes caught sight of the clock in the cafeteria.

"Tired or not," both Miyuki and Watanabe seemed to be surprised by her sudden objection. "It is important that you need to rest. The doctor did say that having plenty of rest is essential for your recovery, so I'll like you to stop for the day and head back to your room now, Miyuki-kun."

Upon hearing those words, Watanabe quickly turned to watch his captain, and as expected, he could tell that the bespectacled teenager was about to protest. But, faced with a slight glare from Takashima that silenced the catcher, Miyuki surrendered and sighed as he stood up.

"Sorry, Nabe," Miyuki said as he began to walk off. "I'll leave things to you now."

"It's no problem, Miyuki. Just rest for the night."

And Miyuki left under the careful watch of the assistant director as he strode slowly across the room, aiming for the exit.

"Ah, that's right, Miyuki-kun," Takashima suddenly spoke after Miyuki had taken almost three steps. Miyuki paused and turned to face the assistant director with a confused expression.

"Is there anything else, Rei-chan?"

"Yes, it's something I just found out while helping Oota-san organize some of our documents and files of the team members' profile," Miyuki was confused even further when especially the gentle smile was back on Takashima's face again. "It's your birthday today, isn't it?"

And Miyuki's eyes widened upon that announcement.

"Happy Birthday, Miyuki-kun."

**LINE BREAK**

Miyuki sighed as he put his arms behind his head as he continued to stare at the empty top bunk.

"Happy Birthday, Miyuki-kun."

Miyuki had forgotten. He had totally forgotten that the today was the day he turned seventeen. He had been so busy and preoccupied with the Jingu tournament together with the team that he had totally forgotten that his birthday was just round the corner. If not for the assistant director, he wouldn't even bother remembering at all and time would just continue to pass for him without realizing that he had turned one year older.

With those thoughts, Miyuki promptly turned his head to look at the digital clock at his nightstand. It was already thirty minutes before midnight.

Another thirty minutes more and the day of his birth seventeen years ago would be over.

"Hey Miyuki… Does Sawamura know about this?"

And Miyuki cursed as he remembered those words. He could remember Watanabe being shocked and had made a fuss and kept apologizing about not knowing his birthday, so he's beginning to expect a bigger and worse reaction from Sawamura.

After all, it was no secret to most of the baseball members that the two of them are currently dating. After that final match of the fall tournament, as the last person who realized Miyuki's injuries, Sawamura had taken upon himself the responsibilities of taking care of Miyuki, meeting his needs and making sure the captain didn't push himself and concentrated fully on his recovery while the team prepared for the upcoming Jingu Tournament. It was during that period that both of them had realized their feelings for each other, and hence it wasn't long that both of them had confessed (with a push from some of their teammates) and started officially going out.

That happened just three weeks ago.

Miyuki smiled as he thought about his boyfriend. Everything had happened so fast for the past few weeks; the catcher began to think that it was no wonder he had forgotten his birthday. Their relationship was only in its initial stages, and that was where he had realized both of them probably had known nothing about each other personally and privately outside of baseball. Even he didn't know when was the southpaw's birthday too.

Miyuki sighed again as he turned to look at the digital clock again. Fifteen more minutes till midnight. After Takashima's reminder, Miyuki had thought of seeing the pitcher before he went to bed. But as there was a match tomorrow morning, Miyuki had concluded that the pitcher needed his rest for tomorrow after today's training, hence he went back to his room instead.

Oh well, there's always next year, I guess. Miyuki made a mental reminder to himself to talk and ask his boyfriend when was his birthday tomorrow after the match as he closed his eyes, smiling as he began to imagine the fuss the pitcher was going to make when he found out that he had missed his boyfriend's birthday by one day.

*Knock knock*

Miyuki opened his eyes upon hearing the sounds, before turning to look towards the door.

*Knock knock*

Confused, Miyuki began to slowly get up, staring at the door silently for a while before the same two knocking sounds were heard again. With a grumble, Miyuki stood up from his bed, walking across his room to open the door.

And his eyes widened as he saw whom it was that dared disturbed him at this hour.

"Sawamura?" And indeed, the pitcher was right in front of him outside his room, panting as he rested his hands on his knees with one of them holding on to a plastic bag seemingly from the nearby convenience store. "What are you-"

"Wha," Sawamura tried to speak up despite the panting. "What time is it?"

"It's eleven fifty already," Miyuki replied as he raised one of his eyebrows in confusion. "You should be sleeping; or have you forgotten that tomorrow you have a match, you idiot?" Miyuki tauntingly said with a smirk as he watched the pitcher calm down his breaths before reaching out for something in the plastic bag he had with his hand.

"Here!" Sawamura accidentally yelled as he shoved something onto Miyuki's chest. "Glad that I made it…"

"Huh?" Miyuki was confused even further.

"S-Sorry," Sawamura said as he finally looked up, surprising Miyuki with his pair of determined eyes. "I'm not really sure what to get for you, but at least it's better than nothing."

Wordlessly, the captain blinked twice and raised his hand to reach out for the item on his chest, before bringing up to inspect it.

"…A pudding?" Miyuki identified the item before looking back to the southpaw, surprised once again when he saw that his boyfriend was blushing as he avoided any eye contact.

"W-Well, it's…" Sawamura stuttered before he took a deep breath to calm himself. It was then he finally had the courage to look at the pair of confused eyes from the catcher. "It's a present. Today's your birthday, right?"

And Miyuki widened his eyes as he said those words. It took some time for Miyuki to realize what was happening.

"…How did you know?"

"Well…" Sawamura replied as he began to fidget. "I overheard the conversation you had with Takashima-san and Nabe-senpai in the cafeteria just now when I passed by there after my running and shower, so…"

"You mean," and then it clicked when Miyuki remembered that Sawamura was standing outside the door just now, panting hard as if he had run towards here from somewhere. "You actually rushed down to the convenience store to get this for me when you heard that today's my birthday?"

"Y-Yeah… I had actually wanted to just give you one of my puddings in the fridge in my room, but apparently Kuramochi-senpai had finished them all. So I have no choice but to quickly make my way to the store to get some. Great chance for me to replenish my stock too!"

The catcher continued to stare at the pitcher with a pair of incredulous eyes.

"…Sawamura, you-"

"Ah, but I'm not so sure if you like pudding or not, so I apologize first if you don't like it!" Sawamura quickly yelled as he bowed down to his senior. "B-But it was kind of last minute, s-s-so I'm not really-"

"Sawamura."

"Yes?"

And Sawamura's eyes widened as his arms were suddenly grabbed before he was being pulled into the catcher's room. He also definitely did not expect to land himself on a firm chest as arms were wrapped around him; the door already closed behind. The pitcher blushed even more when he realized what had happened.

"M-Miyuki-senpai?"

"Shh," the catcher hushed the southpaw as he tightened his hold. "You're being too loud outside. You wouldn't want someone to come and punish you for disturbing their sleep, would you?"

"Ah, s-sorry…" Sawamura apologized as he realized the truth in his senior's words, before guiltily hid his face in Miyuki's chest. He then realized how fast his heart was beating as he could feel his boyfriend tightened his hold.

"Sawamura?"

"Hmm?"

"…You know…" Miyuki said as he released his hold and leaned back to look at Sawamura's red face with a smirk. "I'm not a fan of sweet foods."

And Miyuki could almost laugh at the shock and panic expression on Sawamura's face.

"I-I'm sorry!" Sawamura quickly apologized again. "But I really don't know what I should get. I mean, there wasn't enough time, and I know I need to make it before midnight so since I need to buy some puddings, I just bought more thinking that maybe you can eat it as a replacement for the cake or something. I mean, I just want-"

"Relax, Sawamura!" Miyuki stopped his boyfriend's panic as he hugged him again while laughing. "I was just kidding. Sweet foods are not my favorite, but I can still eat a pudding."

"Urgh… Damn you, Miyuki." Sawamura growled when he realized he was being toyed with. "I-It's all your fault for not telling me that it's your birthday today!"

"Haha! Yeah, You're right about that. Sorry."

"Hell, even you yourself had forgotten about it!"

"Well, both of us were concentrating on the tournament, so I didn't really have the time and chance to tell you."

"If I had known, then I would have got something better for you!"

"Heh… Something better? Like what?"

"I don't know!"

"Oi, oi. You-"

"But still," Sawamura suddenly said in an unusual soft tone. "I'm sorry for not getting something better."

And Miyuki smiled again as he ruffled his boyfriend's hair.

"And sorry for such a simple present," Sawamura apologized again, where the catcher could feel the pitcher clenching his fists on his shirt as he tried to hide his blush and get closer to his boyfriend. "I-I really wanted to get you something special since we're d-d-dating, but I really don't know what I should get. So… I'm sorry."

"…Idiot," Miyuki chuckled upon hearing those words. He then took a glance towards the pudding he had in his hands on Sawamura's back, smiling as thoughts of how his boyfriend had made the effort to get this for him when he had just found out about his birthday less than an hour ago. "It's the simple things that count. Like just this pudding from you, the words 'Happy Birthday' from you or you staying with me right now. For me, this is more than enough already."

And that was where Miyuki leaned back and cupped the pitcher's cheeks to make him face him, smiling sincerely at the obvious and heavy blush adorning on the pitcher's face. "Thank you, Sawamura."

In response, Sawamura gasped lightly as he heard those words of gratefulness and appreciation, before wordlessly lifting his hand to land on Miyuki's on his face and avoiding any eye contact out of embarrassment.

"So since time is running out, won't you say those words, Sawamura?" and Miyuki continued to watch his boyfriend expectantly, waiting for the next few words he knew it would come, again.

"…Happy Birthday, you shitty bastard."

"Ouch, that's harsh." Haha! I guess some things will never change.

And it was at that moment where the digits on the digital clock in Miyuki's room finally changed to 12:00.

**Omake; the next day, after the match**

"Oi, Miyuki!"

"What?"

And a soft impact smacked and landed on his face, where Miyuki could immediately tasted the sweetness on his tongue as the plate fell off from his face.

"Hyahaha!" Kuramochi laughed as he held onto his sides upon the sight. "That's what you get for hiding from us that it was your birthday yesterday, you shitty captain!"

Promptly, Miyuki winced as he removed his sports goggles and blinked while cleaning off the whipped cream and sponge cake from his face. He twitched in slight annoyance when he saw Kuramochi laughing and Watanabe beside him, giving Miyuki an apologetic look with the first string members behind them laughing loudly with the shortstop as well.

But what had probably annoyed him the most was that one of them included the loud-mouthed pitcher who seemed to be laughing the loudest among them all. It seemed that his boyfriend had enjoyed humiliating him with the others.

And as Miyuki promptly licked to remove the cream on his lips, an idea inspired him and he smirked and stalked towards the group of players laughing at him. The whole group immediately stopped and calmed down when Watanabe, who was the first to notice, quickly alerted everyone and they winced upon seeing their captain's approach and evil smirk.

Because nothing good ever happened whenever their captain had that suggestive and mischievous smile on that face of his.

And the whole team could do nothing but remain silent when Miyuki reached and stood in front of Sawamura, who fidgeted as he became very self-conscious of the stares from his boyfriend and the whole team as well.

"M-Miyuki-senpai?" and Sawamura definitely did not expect the catcher to suddenly lean down to bring his lips extremely close to his ear.

"Mind helping me clean up, Sawamura?" Miyuki whispered lowly causing the pitcher to suddenly shiver. "With that tongue of yours?"

And probably everyone had figured what words were exchanged between the two lovebirds when they saw the darkening red and gaping on Sawamura's face and the smirk on Miyuki's, which resulted in embarrassed blushes from some of them and disgusted expressions from the others, especially from the shortstop who immediately cursed and demanded loudly and annoyingly at the both of them to get a room and keep their private and flirty moments to themselves.

Oh revenge is so sweet. (Probably even more than the cake on his face)

The End

Once again, Happy (belated) birthday Miyuki!

++++Some important clarifications!++++

Miyuki's injuries
**(SPOILERS ALERT)**
Miyuki was diagnosed by a doctor during the final match of the fall tournament in chapter 393 that he had injured or strained his oblique abdominal muscles during the rough play from that giant player from Seikou. I've already researched that treatment usually involves a set of recovery exercises and plenty of rest till the muscles is not painful anymore. The worst-case scenario (which I hope it won't happen) is a surgery, which according to research and doctors that it is rare and recovery will usually take a couple of weeks depending on the seriousness of the injury.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Tournament
Other than the spring and summer Koushien, the Jingu stadium will also hold another baseball tournament called the Meiji Jingu Baseball Tournament in November. The winner is usually guaranteed a spot in the spring Koushien and the region of the winner team will receive another bid for a spot in Senbatsu as well. I am aware that Seidou will probably not take part in this tournament if they had won the fall tournament (I'm still not 100% sure how does High School Japanese baseball works) but since Takashima and Miyuki had mentioned this tournament in chapter 393, I thought that Seidou will take part in it as well hence I included the tournament in this story and it does clashes with Miyuki's birthday ^^|||

Quote inspired
"It's the Simple Things that count. Like bees, balloons and honey, or a friendly paw in yours along a path that's sunny." – Winnie the Pooh

Alright then, hopefully you readers enjoy the story. Once again, so sorry for the lateness!

Regards,
Ink-chan

P.S. I may be unable to fulfill my promise of updating 2 chapters of 'It's Okay' this week. Sorry, I didn't expect my work to suddenly pile up exponentially after my week off 2 weeks ago to take care of my hospitalized mother. So sorry about that.

But I'll definitely have at least one chapter up before December though. So thank you very much for your patience. You readers are awesome. :D