Sawamura headed over to Kanemaru's room with arms full of notebooks and textbooks. The two teens had set up a study schedule and now that exams were coming up Sawamura realized how much he needed to catch up on.

After shuffling all his books into one arm he knocked loudly.

"Kanemaru, it's time to study!" he shouted, somewhat enthused with getting some of his work over with.

However when the door opened it was not Kanemaru that stood before him.

How could he forget that Chris-senpai was Kanemaru's roommate?

"Yes?" calmly asked Chris as he leaned against the doorway.

"Hi, Chris-senpai!" shouted Sawamura in surprise. "Erm, is Kanemaru here?"

"Kanemaru? No, he had to go home for the weekend."

"What?" squawked out Sawamura. "He was suppose to help me with my studies," he added petulantly.

"Oh, I suppose he just forgot to let you know he would be gone."

Sawamura didn't say anything, wracking his brain with what he was suppose to do now. The tests were in a few days and in no way did he feel prepared.

Chris just took in the desolate form in front of him and released a sigh.

"Would you like me to help you instead?" Chris offered. It wasn't really too much of a burden – it was more the thought that he and Sawamura would be all alone in his room without any interruptions that got to Chris, but he could never turn a blind-eye when Sawamura needed his help.

"Really!? Thank you so much, Chris-senpai! I promise I'll work very hard," said Sawamura enthusiastically as he bowed as low as he could without dropping anything.

"I know you will," responded Chris with a small smile, Sawamura's antics never failing to amuse him.

He moved aside so Sawamura and his stack of books could enter the room.

Sawamura took his time to look around. It seemed like the room was cleaner and larger than his own, but that could be because Kuramochi always left his video games and consoles everywhere, making their room seem small.

The room had a few posters of baseball players and over each desk was a corkboard filled with notes and a calendar. Sawamura had only been in this room a couple of times, but Kanemaru was a vicious teacher and would not let him get distracted. Now that Kanemaru was not around, Sawamura took his time taking in the view.

The room was tidy, both beds made and no real clutter anywhere. In a way it looked unlived, but there were little bits of personal items here and there that added some personality to the space.

"Where should I put my things, Chris-senpai?"

"Go ahead and set them out on my desk. I don't have all night to go over material with you so I expect you to pay attention."

"Of course!" Sawamura saluted after placing his belongings on Chris' desk. "I will be the most studious pupil."

"Well at least you have enthusiasm," Chris said with a chuckle. "Go ahead and take out the materials for the subject you're struggling with the most and we'll go from there. You can sit in my chair," he said as he moved over and grabbed Kanemaru's chair.

Sawamura wasn't sure why sitting in Chris' chair made his stomach all fluttery, but the thought that he was sitting where Chris-senpai would normally sit, and touch all the personal things that belonged to Chris, well – it just made his head spin. He bit his lip and shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. There was no way he would be able to actually study if he kept thinking unnecessary things.

It was different studying with Chris-senpai than it was with Kanemaru or Haruichi. With the other two Sawamura felt that he could fool around and take breaks and oftentimes his mind just wandered but with Chris-senpai he felt that he shouldn't do those things.

Chris-senpai had taken time out of his day to teach him and Sawamura was going to make the best of it. It had taken a while to warm up to Chris, but something about him just made Sawamura want to try harder than he ever had. Chris was like someone he aspired to be but at the same time Sawamura was just happy being in his presence. Chris always had a calming affect on him, possibly because of Chris' soft voice and genuine praise.

"Here, this is what the teacher said was going to be covered in the science portion of the exam," said Sawamura, pushing his thoughts aside. It was no revelation he felt calmer and happier when he was with Chris.

Chris took a few minutes to look over the material, trying to remember when he had last studied the concepts.

"I see, this is a little difficult but I have faith you can learn it."

Sawamura could feel his stomach get all fluttery again like it always did whenever Chris praised him – inadvertently or not.

Chris sat right against him that their thighs would touch occasionally. Sawamura concentrated as hard as he could, but he could still feel Chris' warmth on his leg.

Chris wasn't faring any better. He had to admit that he liked the idea of spending some time with Sawamura outside of baseball, even if they were just studying. In a way it was like seeing a whole different side.

When he put his mind to it, Sawamura could really study. Chris knew that he wasn't dumb, it was just that Sawamura had trouble concentrating on things that did not interest him, which in this case was anything that wasn't baseball.

"I'm not too sure I understand this part, Chris-senpai," said Sawamura as he leaned closer into Chris.

"Which one?"

Sawamura leaned even closer as he moved his book over to Chris. "This one here," he pointed.

Sawamura looked up into Chris' face, not realizing just how close they were.

Chris' eyes widened in surprise as a small flush made onto his cheeks.

"Erm, maybe we should take a small break. We've been working straight for almost an hour now."

Sawamura barely stopped himself from leaning further in, Chris' voice breaking whatever spell he was under. He moved back so fast that he lost his balance and was about to fall when Chris' quick reflexes caught him. He could feel Chris' large hands gripping his shoulders tightly, holding him in place.

They stayed frozen like that for what seemed a lifetime, staring into each other's eyes.

Sawamura could see Chris leaning in closer to him, pulling him forward.

"Are you okay?" asked Chris, his voice so soft it could have been a whisper. Sawamura could see the concern in Chris' green-hazel eyes as they searched to make sure Sawamura was unhurt.

"Uh, yeah I'm alright," said Sawamura as his heart pounded in his chest. They stayed like that for a while but Sawamura could not stay still any longer. "Um, Chris-senpai?"

"Sorry," said Chris hastily as he released Sawamura's shoulders. The chair toppled precariously for a while, but soon righted itself.

"Right, do you want something to drink, perhaps?" offered Chris as he stood up, needing a reason to be away from Sawamura for the moment. That was a close call - he had almost leaned in and kissed the southpaw pitcher.

"Uh, yes? Some water, please," replied Sawamura, his heart pounding in his chest. He let out a sigh of relief once Chris exited the room. 'What was that all about?' he thought to himself. He stood up from his seat and stretched out his limbs.

Once alone he realized that he could look through Chris' room uninterrupted. Usually he was not one to snoop, but his curiosity got the best of him. It wasn't that he was looking for anything in particular, nor that he expected to find anything incriminating - this was Chris-senpai after all - but he was still just curious. Although he and Chris were on the same team and were around one another constantly due to practice he still didn't know much about the catcher. One of the only things he knew about Chris-senpai was his injury, rehabilitation, and that his father was maybe famous? He still wasn't sure on that last one. The opportunity to learn more about Chris was just too good of a temptation to ignore.

He walked around back to the desk and just pulled open random drawers. There didn't seem to be anything special about anything he found. It was mostly school supplies and texts. Next he moved on to look at the bedside table. Since Chris and Kanemaru were the only ones in the room, instead of the bunkbeds like in most of the dorms, they each had a single bed and nightstand.

Sawamura bit his lip and strained his ears to hear if Chris was coming back or not. Realizing that the coast was clear for the moment he opened the drawer. There didn't seem to be much of anything in there except for a few old letters. He didn't recognize the name but it was from a woman and their last name was Takigawa so it could only be a family member. Maybe his mother? Sister? Cousin? He was really curious about them, but he just could not violate Chris' privacy any further. He put the letter back and shut the drawer as quietly as he could.

Letting out a huff, Sawamura had to say he was a bit disappointed. He thought for sure Chris would have some weird secret or something - didn't everyone? Yet Chris wasn't just anyone - he was Chris-senpai.

He once again strained his ears. He could hear some light chatting pass by the door, but whoever it was just kept walking. Chris had been gone a while and would be back soon, but Sawamura could just not help himself.

He went down on his hands and knees and peered under Chris' bed. The floor had some dust on it, but not much else. That was until his eyes roamed a little more and he found a weird bottle. He grabbed it and was about to crawl out from under the bed when he heard the bedroom door open.

"Sawamura, they didn't have water, so I had to -" Chris said as he entered the room, but his mouth went dry when he caught sight of Sawamura's butt in the air, wiggling as the younger boy struggled to crawl out of under the bed.

"Chris-senpai!" shouted Sawamura, completely red-faced and ashamed at being caught. Without thinking he had pulled out the bottle from under the bed.

Chris, once realizing what Sawamura had in his hand, first paled then his face reddened in both anger and embarrassment.

"What do you think you are doing?" he bit out, trying to reach for the bottle.

Sawamura, seeing Chris advance on him, shuffled away onto the bed with the bottle firmly in his hand. Sawamura scrambled into a dogeza pose. "I am so sorry, Chris-senpai. This was so wrong of me and I can't believe I broke your trust, but I was just curious and wanted to learn more about you and everything you had was just so neat and normal and I just knew there had to be something but now I really regret ever looking through your things, please don't hate me. I'm so so sorry!" ranted Sawamura without a breath in between.

Chris could feel his anger lessening, but he was still annoyed and embarrassed.

"Just..give me the bottle, Sawamura," he sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He was a bit flattered that Sawamura had wanted to learn more about him, even if the other boy went about it entirely wrong. He knew he should be furious, but his crush on the pitcher was so huge he just had to forgive him - but not without some repercussions. He was going to have fun designing Sawamura's new training scroll.

"Bottle?" echoed Sawamura as he finally realized he was holding the bottle he had found. Without thinking he raised it up to his face to better read the label. The bottle read 'BOOTY RELAX: Anal Lube with Silicone'. Sawamura and Chris both stared at the bottle with growing trepidation. Sawamura could feel his brain short-circuiting while Chris could feel his anger returning.

He dropped the drinks carelessly onto the ground and launched himself onto the bed, desperate to grab the bottle away from Sawamura. Reacting instinctively to someone seemingly attacking him, Sawamura twisted his arms out of the way, landing on his back with Chris flush against his chest.

"I'm sorry, please don't hurt me! I promise I saw nothing and I won't be telling anyone about this ever!" shouted Sawamura as he closed his eyes and waited for Chris to do something painful to him.

All at once Chris could feel his all his anger melt away and he just huffed in defeat, putting his whole weight atop of Sawamura, his face tucked against Sawamura's neck.

"Um, Chris-senpai?"

"Yes, Sawamura?" answered Chris against Sawamura's neck, his hot breath caressing the skin below him.

"Sorry again. I promise to never look through your things," said Sawamura in a near broken whisper that Chris immediately looked up into his face.

There were tears glistening in Sawamura's eyes and that damn bottle was still firmly gripped in his hand.

With Sawamura looking at him like that there really was no way for him to remain mad at the southpaw pitcher.

"Sawamura," intoned Chris as he stared into golden-brown eyes, "you had no right to go through my things. It was incredibly invasive and wrong."

The tears in Sawamura's eyes escaped and streamed down his face. Sawamura's face looked completely heart-broken.

"I- I am so sorry, Chris-senpai," Sawamura stuttered out, his voice hitching with emotion.

Now Chris felt like a total jerk. He hadn't meant to make Sawamura cry, no matter how mad and embarrassed he was.

"Do you hate me now?" Sawamura managed to get the words out.

Chris had to admit he was startled at that question. Immediately he rose onto his forearms, letting them hold his weight as he hovered over Sawamura. "Of course I don't hate you!" He couldn't understand how Sawamura had ever gotten to that conclusion.

Sawamura's body seemed to sag into the bed. He had kept his body tensed ever since Chris lunged at him.

"Thank you," Sawamura whispered out, trying to keep his emotions in check. Chris let out another huff as he placed more weight onto his left arm, using his right hand to wipe the tears from Sawamura's face.

"I'm still disappointed in you, but I don't - and will never - hate you," stated Chris with conviction, making sure Sawamura understood the truth of his words.

Sawamura let out a watery smile, finally getting his tears under control. Now realizing that Chris wasn't going to hate him, his smile grew into it's usually sunny disposition.

"I could never hate you either, Chris-senpai!" shouted Sawamura as he impulsively wrapped his arms around Chris' shoulders, the bottle still firmly in his grip.

Having Sawamura all around him was seriously testing his self-control. This was the first time they had ever really interacted outside of baseball. Chris could feel his body reacting to the warm body underneath him. He immediately tensed, trying to keep his hips away from Sawamura's body.

"Chris-senpai?" asked Sawamura inquiringly. He had felt Chris' body tense all over. Had he overstepped some sort of line by hugging the catcher?

"It's nothing," muttered Chris as he extracted himself from Sawamura's arms, hovering over his body once more with his forearms placed on either side of Sawamura's torso.

They continued to stare at one another in silence. It was actually surprising at how quiet Sawamura was being.

"Chris-senpai?" asked Sawamura again as he lifted his left hand and placed it on Chris' cheek, just cupping it lightly. Chris slightly flinched, startled at the unexpected contact.

Chris searched Sawamura's face, not entirely sure what was going on between them. He could feel heat spread through him as electricity sizzled around them. He knew why he was still on top of the southpaw, but he wasn't sure why Sawamura hadn't asked him to get up yet.

Sawamura himself wasn't entirely sure what he was doing. It was almost like baseball, like he just let his mind go and let his instincts take over. He could feel that something was building, that their previous mentor-pupil relationship was changing - and as everything else in life he let it consume and change him, trusting his instincts to never lead him wrong. It was only when he overthought decisions that he messed up, but if he just let himself go, let himself freefall then he knew something new and great would happen.

With half-lidded eyes Sawamura moved his hand to rest on the back of Chris' neck, dragging Chris' face closer to his. He had never done this before and he was so nervous, but he still pushed through. No one got anything done if they never put in the effort - that was usually how he lived his life.

Chris looked down in that face in wonder and then his eyes fluttered shut on their own when his lips met those under him.

It was like every dream he ever had came true at once and offhandedly he was thanking Kanemaru for having gone home to visit his family.

Their lips pressed together for what seemed like forever. Chris moved one of his own hands to encompass Sawamura's cheek, tilting his head to gain better access to his mouth. He licked the closed lips under him, startling a gasp out of Sawamura as he tentatively moved his tongue into the now opened mouth.

Sawamura could feel his face flush bright red, his body was warm and he was slightly embarrassed. He had no idea what he was doing and he was so happy that Chris was taking the lead. He allowed Chris' tongue enter his mouth, could feel the appendage moving around slowly. A low moan escaped him as he let his own tongue touch Chris'.

Chris pulled away at the sound, his own cheeks slightly flushed with color.

Both teens panted lightly as they regained their breath.

"Um.." Sawamura broke the silence. "Chris-senpai?" he questioned again - not entirely sure how to phrase the question he wanted an answer to.

Thankfully after these months Chris was able to read Sawamura. "I could never hate you Sawamura," he said huskily, "I actually really like you - in case that wasn't obvious," he added at the end, a little self-deprecatingly.

Sawamura could feel a goofy grin spread across his face. "I really like Chris-senpai too!"

Chris could only chuckle at that energy. Count on Sawamura to diffuse a slightly tense atmosphere with his usual exuberance.

"Would you like to be my boyfriend, Sawamura?" asked Chris, now more confident after that kiss, especially since Sawamura was the one that initiated their first kiss.

"Only if you call me Eijun, at least in private," asked Sawamura a bit shyly, but with his big grin still in place. Chris could only chuckle and nod his acquiescence.

"So, we should probably get back to studying for your exams. This was suppose to only be a small break," cut in Chris, ever the senior. Sawamura pouted but nodded at Chris' wisdom. Chris untangled himself from Eijun as he got off the bed.

"Um, here you go, Chris-senpai," said Eijun sheepishly as he handed the bottle back to Chris. Chris could feel his cheeks flush again, having completely forgotten about it since the kiss. He groaned in embarrassment as he covered his face with his hand.

"Just… why don't you keep it, Sawamur- I mean, Eijun."

Eijun could feel his face flush in both contentment and embarrassment. "Ah, well...if it's alright with Chris-senpai?" he asked as he started getting off the bed as well.

"Just… put it away."

Eijun just grinned as he took the bottle and stuffed it into his bag. He knew that whenever he touched himself he would be thinking about Chris using it on himself. The thought sent a pleasant shiver through him.

As if reading his mind, Chris moved over and embraced Eijun from behind. "Think of me when you use it," whispered Chris huskily into Eijun ear.

Eijun realized that his blush was never going to leave him.

Really, how could he study after that?

THE END.