CHAPTER ONE SUMMARY: Jun is slightly traumatized and he has to deal with his misplaced hatred towards Tetsu.

Jun spent most of the afternoon in denial and most of dinnertime stress eating. After he had consumed twice his daily intake of rice and hobbled over to his room (thoughts of possible indigestion not even crossing his mind), he was greeted by the sight of the last guy he wanted to see today.

Unfortunately, the guy was his roommate so there was no way to avoid him. It was only a temporary room assignment, Jun reminded himself. He'd only be breathing the same air as this strange person for a few more days, a week at most. He just had to hold out.

"The moon looks like a toenail, don't you think?" said person asked as he peered out the open window.

If there was one thing to be known about Isashiki Jun, it was that his patience was very, very short. "Are your eyes fixed to your head properly or should I go get a wrench?" he hissed, his blood pressure rising alarmingly fast. "What part of the moon looks like a fucking toenail?"

"All of it?" the boy on the other end of the room replied, more or less sincerely surprised that he was even asked such a question.

Jun rubbed at his temples, anticipating a migraine. "Anyone ever told you that you're one weird dude?"

The boy's calm expression faltered ever so slightly, something Jun interpreted as a sign of being offended, but like hell he was going to apologize. Yuki Tetsuya deserved whatever flak he got for being a "weird little turd," as Jun would put it. It was just his luck to be roomed with a guy who barely talked and, on the rare occasion that he did, liked to spew utter nonsense. Tetsuya had claimed during their first day on the team that he could field from any position (to the coach no less) when, in truth, he couldn't field at all. Either he was a liar or just plain stupid, Jun thought.

Jun settled into his bed with a grunt, his stomach finally acknowledging the inhuman amount of food that he had just eaten. This wasn't the first time he had regretted something he did in a fit of anger.

"How was the tryout today, Jun? Did the coach make you a pitcher?" Tetsuya asked, shifting his attention from the moon to the grumpy boy's face. Why was Mr. I-Can-Field-Not-Really only talkative when it came to him? Jun would later have to remind him that they weren't on a first name basis (not that Tetsuya would listen anyway; damn his selective hearing).

"None of your business." I was disillusioned for the first time in my life and laughed at by more than half of the baseball team—how could he possibly say that?

One good thing about Tetsuya is he'd never push you into doing anything, especially not talking about something you didn't want to. So when Jun told him it was none of his business, it was officially none of his business and their conversation ended there. It seemed like the only time they got along was when neither of them opened their mouths.

-o-o-o-

Jun woke up after a scant three hours of sleep when he heard the sound of the doorknob turning. Through half-lidded eyes and blurry vision he could make out the shape of a person entering the room.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Tetsuya's voice sounded farther away than it actually was.

"Nah, I was probably gonna wake up on my own sooner or later anyway. Been a shitty day and I can't even sleep properly." He purposely left out the part about his stomach feeling like a blender churning bricks. He will never stress eat again.

Tetsuya nodded curtly and proceeded to the upper bunk of their two-tier bed. Jun glanced at the clock. 9:30 P.M.—curfew would start in thirty minutes. "What were you doing out so late?" he absently asked, almost regretting it as he did not want another migraine from vain attempts at conversing with the strange guy. But he wasn't going to get much sleep anyway so might as well make small talk.

"Just swinging my bat."

"What for? Practice ended hours ago."

"Three hundred swings during practice and two hundred swings during my free time. This is the quota I've set for myself."

Jun's eyes grew wide when the digits finally registered in his brain. "What the hell? Why are you swinging so damn much?"

"To survive." Just when he thought they could have a normal conversation for once, he drops this vague bullshit.

"To survive?"

"You've noticed it, too, haven't you? Baseball in Seidou is different from what we were used to in middle school. If I don't do at least that much, I won't survive here."

Baseball in Seidou is different from what we were used to in middle school, Jun repeated in his head. He felt blood rushing in his ears and to his cheeks for the second time today, could almost hear the taunting laughs of his upperclassmen again. Stop, Jun pleaded with his mind, don't relive that damn moment again.

"Jun?" came Tetsuya's voice dripping with concern. "You're making strange noises."

His roommate climbed down and knelt at the side of his bed, the calm expression he usually sported now warped with worry. Jun buried his face underneath a pillow and half-heartedly kicked at the boy invading his private space.

"I'm fine," Jun howled beneath two inches of cotton. "Just get the fuck back in your own bed and leave me alone!"

Tetsuya fixed him a withering gaze, one that said, You are not fine and you are not fooling anyone with your lousy acting. Jun made the mistake of pulling off the pillow long enough to meet that gaze and subsequently caved in, his arms going limp. Tetsuya tossed the pillow aside and Jun could only wish he wasn't as flustered as he felt. He was; his face was beet red and breaking out into a cold sweat, and his eyes looked as though pride was the only thing keeping them from bursting into tears. Tetsuya hadn't pegged him as the type who was capable of crying and maybe that's what made the sight even more distressing. Whatever it is that could bring Isashiki Jun to the brink of tears must be serious.

"Go on, laugh. I look like shit, don't I?"

"Not shit. Maybe a tomato that was stepped on and left to rot, but not shit."

"The fuck?" Jun's head snapped up, ready to glare at Tetsuya, but when he saw the genuine shock on the other boy's face—as though he didn't believe someone could take offense at what he just said—Jun could only laugh. "You say the dumbest things, weirdo. And don't ever say shit again; it doesn't suit you."

Tetsuya gave him a bashful smile. "Noted."

They lapsed into a period of awkward silence, Jun getting uncomfortable just thinking about it and Tetsuya not wanting to force the information out of him. They exchanged furtive glances, hands reaching for the nearest object they could find—the earlier discarded pillow in Jun's case and a frame sitting on the bedside desk in Tetsuya's.

It was a nice photo, Tetsuya thought. Jun actually looked his age when smiling and the girl beside him was cute in a demure kind of way. "Who's this?" he asked to break the tension. It was an innocent enough question but Jun's yell when he realized what he was holding could have woken up the entire building.

"Man, I didn't want you to see that!"

"Then you shouldn't have put it on the desk where it's easy to spot."

Jun opened his mouth to retort but came up with nothing. Damn, he got me there. Admitting defeat, he sighed. "She was my girlfriend back in middle school, back when I was the hotshot pitcher in our baseball team."

"Was?"

"She broke up with me when she found out I was going to Seidou. She thought I was gonna go to the same school as her but got mad when I said I wanted to keep playing baseball. Can you believe her?"

Tetsuya nods. So much for demure.

"Shit, can we stop talking about embarrassing things? Let's just go to sleep."

"Can you even sleep?" Tetsuya asked, not trusting his roommate to not have another panic attack.

"I'm fine already, jeez. I freak out once and you start acting like my mom."

Tetsuya didn't know what Jun's mother was like so he wasn't sure if he should have been offended. "Alright. Goodnight, Jun."

"Yeah, yeah, same to you, Yuki."

"Tetsu is fine."

"Huh?"

"You can call me Tetsu." The way he said it sounded more like an order than a suggestion.

Jun, just wanting to get some rest, rolled his eyes and slipped under the covers. "Yeah, whatever. Night Tetsu."

Tetsu mumbled one more "Goodnight" before returning to his own bunk. If Jun didn't want to talk, he wasn't going to pry. Whatever it was that made him act like that, Tetsu would find out later, one way or another.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

Just wanted to write something for Captain Shogi and Beard-senpai. Wrote this in one sitting so sorry for any mistakes. The idea came to me after reading Chapter 146 of the manga. I hope you liked it even a little. Feedback is appreciated! :)

I should probably update my other story soon.