Miyuki was only slightly surprised when he met Sawamura again, this time while hiding behind the equipment shed on the first day of the next school year.
He had spent the majority of the summer studying the flowers and their meanings from his mother's book, at least when could, with baseball still being a thing. He could probably name more than two hundred flowers and their meanings, yet he has no idea what to do with this information. He doesn't really understand why he took the time to learn about this anyway. Who cares that the pomegranate means 'foolishness' when the pomegranate blossom means 'mature elegance'?
If he had to think of something, he would say that it just gave him something to do when he had too much or too little on his mind. If he were to be honest, he would say that it calmed him down in a way that only his mother could when he was younger and getting over his fear storms, or how he was nervous going on his first big roller coaster and his mother held his hand through it all. He had so much fun that he even asked to go on it again.
It was a little different than the first time they met. He still thought of the white hyacinth from before, but it was a little more rough than he imagined, probably because he also thought of a scarlet geranium.
He can't really be this stupid.
Right?
Miyuki had stayed up late the night before, trying to get the meaning of wisteria down, and had ended up sleeping in late. At least he wasn't the only one. Although he would guess that the first year's roommates might've had something to do with Sawamura's lateness.
He didn't know if he would be able to get away with sneaking into the line without the coach seeing, but the idea of teasing the younger boy was too appealing to pass up. So as soon as Sawamura got a safe distance away from him in what he supposed was his imitation of a ninja was, he yelled loud enough so that only everyone could hear him.
"He came here late, but he's trying to sneak into the line!"
As soon as everyone turned to look at Sawamura, who had stopped mid-stride in surprise, Miyuki ran around the shed and jumped into the line himself.
He kind of expected getting caught, even with the distraction, but at least he wasn't the only one getting thrown under bus. Kuramochi and Masuko were also told to run with him and the first year, and Miyuki was glad that the two people responsible for this mess were getting punished as well.
It was amusing for him to see how Sawamura reacted though, saying that he wasn't going to trust anything he says again. At least until he threw up without even finishing one bowl of rice first, then it got a little messy.
He seemed to be doing better by the time he was gawking over the stamina that the second and third years had.
Miyuki was slightly impressed with Sawamura's words when he was trying to tell the coach about how much he wanted to become the ace. He liked his enthusiasm and how he seemed to be so passionate about his words, it almost made him believe the kid.
That is, until he embarrassed himself with the curveball that would've made it to fence about ninety meters away.
When he looked away, he could see Rei-chan facepalming and couldn't help but to chuckle, although he did feel kinda bad for Sawamura. Being told that he can only run while not being able to join practice would suck for anyone, even if he did bring it upon himself.
The first few days after that started and ended with Sawamura running around the field with less and less people feeling bad for him every passing day.
Though, on the fourth day, he was there before anyone else, and when Miyuki noticed Kuramochi watching the first year with narrowed eyes and pursed lips, he figured that Sawamura had finally found out that this wasn't going to be anywhere near as easy as it was in Junior High. He looked back to the solo runner and thought, Hollyhock. Only for baseball it seems.
He shook his head to clear those thoughts. He doesn't need to think about flowers right now, they have a game coming up soon and it wouldn't be good if the coach saw him slacking off.
Miyuki doesn't know what to do with Furuya.
Ever since he made himself known, he's been trying to get Miyuki to catch for him every time he has a chance. Well, Sawamura is like that too, but Furuya is just as determined and isn't easily provoked like Sawamura is.
It's not like he doesn't like his underclassmen, they can just be a bit much sometimes.
As soon as as Sawamura met Chris, Miyuki knew that there would be trouble.
They didn't seem to get along at first, especially when Chris told him that he couldn't actually pitch yet. Sawamura always seemed to dislike the training that he had to do, but he would always follow the instructions.
When Miyuki heard what he was saying about Chris, he was angry.
What did this kid know? Sawamura didn't understand that Chris didn't have a choice. He didn't understand that his eyes seemed so lifeless for a reason. He didn't know just how much Chris wanted to do more.
The next day he saw how Sawamura was following Chris around like a puppy and figured that he had finally found out about his injury.
Miyuki sighed in relief and and looked back to Furuya, who was still waiting for him to make a call, even after pitching for almost half an hour already. He leaned forward to rest his knees on the ground; crouching really starts to hurt after doing it for so long.
"How about we take a little break, Furuya? You must be getting pretty exhausted after so long." He said, not wanting to admit that he was getting tired as well. Unfortunately, Furuya looked like he could pitch another dozen or two balls.
"I'm fine, Miyuki-senpai. I don't want to waste any valuable time." The guy looked even more determined than usual now. Miyuki grimaced though, and was ready to say something about how he was really gonna hurt himself if he didn't take a break soon, but was interrupted when he heard yelling from across the field.
"I really want you to catch for me, Chris-senpai!"
Miyuki was scowling when he turned to look at the culprit, and to no surprise it was Sawamura begging Chris to go to the bullpen with him, although he did raise a brow when he noticed he was kneeling.
"Oi! Sawamura! I didn't know it was so easy to get you on your knees!"
It was said with a smirk and out of his mouth before he really realized what he was saying, and after a second Sawamura turned to look at him with a very red face. There were people snickering into their hands around them, but Miyuki didn't pay any attention to them. His eyes were on a flustered face that was almost as dark as a rose.
"Shut up Miyuki Kazuya! You perverted bastard! Like I would ever get on my knees for you!"
Miyuki chuckled before standing up, ignoring the look Furuya was giving him, and started making his way out of the bullpen to take his gear off. He didn't pay attention to anything else Sawamura was yelling at him, and missed the look Kuramochi was giving him from the side.