"Don't lose like we did."
Those words always came back to haunt him when Eijun was at his worst. Spoken by his captain, his leader, his senpai, he would never forget how the bitter the taste of defeat was, especially when so close to victory. Up until now, all Eijun could think of was how hard they've worked only to fall short and it was all his fault.
As tears streamed down his face, all he could do was replay the game over and over again in his head. His fault. It was his fault that the team came so close to going to nationals except to fall short by one run. It was his fault that he could not stand strong in front of the Inashiro batters. It was his fault that his upperclassmen shed tears. His fault.
He thought about how much went wrong that day and soon his sobs grew louder and louder. Sawamura tried to muffle his cries with a pillow, but everything hurt too much especially with his newly appointed responsibilities.
Clean-up, captain, and ace.
When he found out who Yuuki appointed captaincy to he bolted to find the man he has always looked up to. After busting the door open, Eijun screamed out, "Why?! Senpai, why would you choose me?! I made that promise to you last year and still after all this time I still failed you, I don't understand why," harsh pants filled the room as Sawamura screamed out his frustrations to his captain, to Yuuki, to the man who made him into the player he currently is.
Tears flooded his eyes and a strong hand gripped his chin and tilted his face up. He found himself staring into his captain's eyes and with a steady voice Yuuki murmured,
"Because if it's you, there is no way this team would lose. With you leading our team as clean-up, captain, and ace, we cannot lose."
Eijun cried even harder, "I wanted to go to Nationals with you, with everyone on this team because I love this team!"
"We are still Seidou High School. Take your team to Nationals, but for that to happen you need to get stronger. For all those that weren't able to go. Go in our place and we'll be cheering for you in the stands."
Eijun closed his eyes and trembled, but he was quickly pulled in a warm embrace. Strong arms enveloped his waist and Yuuki softly whispered next to his ear, "I'll be cheering for you too, so do your best."
Eijun's slowly opened his eyes as he heard the heartfelt confession and he was once again reminded of why he decided to come to Seidou.
~About one year ago~
"Seidou training fields are huge," Sawamura murmured to himself. Wide, brown eyes darting around to look at every surface. It was already evening and Reiko had already left, bidding him farewell. Although he was supposed to have left the facilities already, Eijun could not help roaming around, he heard a slight swoosh and immediately turned his attention towards the source.
A tall, black-haired student was swinging a bat by himself outside the facilities. Eijun could see the slight perspiration sliding down the side of his face and the determination and calm focus in his eyes.
While admiring the dark-haired student, he didn't notice a branch on the floor and tripped over it with an indignant yelp filling the air. That certainly had him on the receiving end of a piercing stare and he quickly stood up and introduced himself.
"Ah, sorry to disturb your practice..I'm Sawamura Eijun."
"Yuuki Tetsuya," came the blunt reply.
An awkward silence filled the air and Eijun scrambled to find something to say, "Do you always practice out here by yourself?"
A terse nod was given to him in response.
"Why?"
"If I can't do it everyday, then I can't survive here."
As Eijun recalled that specific conversation, Yuuki's resolve and strong-will was the reason he came to Seidou. After seeing how bad Azuma and the team lost last year, he could not bare to see the same look of anguish on Tetsu's face again and that's why he made the promise to Tetsu, and to himself, that they would finally be able to beat Inashiro and go to National's this year.
However, that didn't happen. With a groan, Eijun threw the pillow he was laying on across the room. While lost in his own thoughts, he didn't hear the door open or the footsteps of a certain captain.
Yuuki took a glance around the room and found a certain ace moping to himself on the bed. He took in the red ringed eyes and tear stained face. As he slowly approached the bed, Eijun opened his eyes and saw who was standing in his room. He offered a shaky smile and Yuuki frowned, "Don't smile like that when you're clearly upset."
Eijun said with a sad smile, "I just don't want to disappoint you."
"The only person you could disappoint is yourself. Practice never lies. Those words speak the truth, and I have no regrets leaving Seidou in your hands. But baseball is a competitive sport and in a game, you either win or lose. The only enemy here is yourself."
Each word that came out of his captain's lips became softer and softer and when he finished speaking Eijun looked up and shyly murmured, "But I won't have you next to me anymore."
With that Yuuki pulled Eijun close to him and placed a soft kiss near the corner of his lips. When he pulled away, Eijun was flushed a delicate pink and he understood the words that were not spoken. "I'll always be here whenever you need me."