Fandom: Diamond no Ace
Title: A Time for Sleep
Author: The Pursuer
Rating: K / G
Genre: Humor/Fluff
Pairing: Kazuya Miyuki X Eijun Sawamura.
Spoilers: Up to chapter 196 of the manga.
Summary: Fifteen minutes into the ride, shifting cautiously so Sawamura's head stops hurting his collarbone, Kazuya thinks maybe he shouldn't have let the pitcher sit next to him.
Disclaimer: I don't own Daiya no Ace.
A/N: Heh, so guess who's been reading sports manga lately. XD This year's been a really rough year, and I haven't written as much as I've wanted to, but I just joined Archive Of Our Own (my nickname there is The Pursuer, if anyone cares to go check), and I wanted to post something to celebrate. I'm not sure I managed to get Miyuki's tone right, but I really tried, so that should count for something...?
A Time for Sleep
Fifteen minutes into the ride, shifting cautiously so Sawamura's head stops hurting his collarbone, Kazuya thinks maybe he shouldn't have let the pitcher sit next to him.
He knows it's not actually the other boy's fault; the match was long and the travel back to their prefecture is going to be even longer. Everyone, from Furuya and Haruichi on the front seats, to Zono and Nori on the row by their side in the back of the bus, is out like a light. Even Kuramochi, who makes bus rides hell because he just can't sit still, is drooling with his head against the window.
Which's good, because, if he sees Sawamura using his shoulder a pillow, he's never going to let him live it down.
Bastard.
Kazuya shifts, tries to ignore the weight. He's actually a little envious; he just can't relax enough to sleep in the bus, plagued by a baseball commentator in his head that never shuts up. He closes his eyes and then thinks Kanemaru needs to work on that bunt, and Haruichi was limping today, we need to be a little easier on him during training, and Sawamura managed to pitch exactly where I asked him to 70% of the time, that was impressive – and, well, it keeps running.
A little obsessive, perhaps, but still better than the usual sort of thought that gets him these times; the sort of thought that sometimes strikes him when everyone else's asleep and he's not Kazuya Miyuki, genius catcher, but just a kid with a sharp tongue and a lot of walls he's never let anyone cross.
It's an absurd sort of thought, the kind that keeps pitchers' fingers trembling on the mound, and he is the master of making it go away – making their eyes shine – except that never seems to work when he is the one disturbed about what he can't control. And it frustrates him that he knows how stupid it is to worry about meaningless things – about who he's going to be when he can no longer play baseball, about whether anyone in the team sees him behind the figure of the captain, about what's going to happen if he fails them – and he's still unable to stop those thoughts from taking over his mind, as he stares at the dark ceiling or the boring landscape of the bus window and feels more alone than he should.
It's nice to see his classmates don't have the same problem. And Sawamura was absolutely brilliant in the match. He's sure earned his rest.
He's already decided he'll just add it to the ever growing list of things to blackmail Sawamura with… and that's probably part of the reason why he lets out a surprised gasp when his hand is grabbed without warning.
Sawamura is muttering in his sleep, hand firmly grasping his.
Eyebrows raised, Kazuya is torn between amusement and perplexity. "…Sawamura?"
Some grumbling.
He shoots a careful look at Zono and Nori, then raises his voice a little. "Oi, Sawamura."
More grumbling; eyes still closed, the pitcher turns his head a little, his lips against the catcher's collarbone.
"…Seriously?"
That doesn't even draw a response. Kazuya tries to wrench his hand free delicately, but the other boy's grip tightens around his fingers. Oh, God, he hopes Kuramochi isn't awake to see this.
"Seriously?" he whispers again frustrated.
This time, Sawamura's line is clear: "That's what high school sweethearts do, dammit."
Kazuya pauses. Sawamura takes advantage of the pause to intertwine their fingers.
The catcher opens his mouth, then closes it again. Looks at the passing landscape, looks back at Zono and Nori, bites his lip.
"Sawamura?" he ends up calling in a funny little voice.
"…What?" the kid half-answers, half-mumbles, his eyes never even showing sign of opening.
"…Are we high school sweethearts?…"
He expects more mumbling, or Sawamura opening his eyes and finally admitting the senpai-tachi put him up to it; he definitely does not expect the other boy to sleepily snuggle closer, enlacing their arms as well as their hands.
"…Of course we are, idiot Miyuki."
…He should be laughing at that. He should be trying to muffle his laughter, and start taking note of the details to tell everyone afterward.
He definitely shouldn't be feeling warm all over, cheeks burning like a lovesick schoolgirl.
The game's got him tired.
Yeah. That must be it.
He leans back against his seat, closing his eyes for a moment. Because he can't shake Sawamura off – the time for doing that inconspicuously is past now – he decides to adapt to the situation, and leans his head on the pitcher's brown hair.
It smells good. Helps him unwind a little. And he has to admit the kid keeps off the cold from the air conditioner.
His eyes stay closed.
In the picture Kuramochi will later take – the one with the two of them sleeping so soundly they don't even notice they've already arrived – there will be a small, relaxed smile on his face… like there is nothing to worry about in the world.
Hope you'll like it!
Thanks to: Yuuji Terajima, for creating these awesome characters and teaching me a lot about baseball, and to Takahiro Sakurai and Ryota Ohsaka, for their upstanding seiyuu work!