A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews - unfortunately this story is already completed and as stated in the summary it does end with Chrisawa solely. Regardless, I hope everyone enjoys! Feel free to hop on over to AO3, where my stories are more up to date. Username is Moonliel. Thank you!

Chapter 2

Somehow Sawamura made it onto the second string and even more people were now talking about the southpaw. He was still loud and annoying but because the coach had finally recognized him he was now a fellow pitcher of the Seidou team - Kazuya couldn't go ignoring him forever, besides Kuramochi seemed happier now that his roommate wasn't sulking all the time now.

Chris got assigned to take care of the southpaw and Kazuya was relieved. Kazuya knew that the coach was working on all possible batteries and pitchers, hoping to find an Ace among them. Miyauchi was paired with Tanba, which was a small mercy since Kazuya and Tanba never meshed well. Tanba-san hadn't cared for Kazuya after he became the regular catcher, he had probably wanted to form a battery with Chris-senpai. Regardless how much Kazuya would have loved to see that, the animosity from Tanba-san had only made Kazuya laugh. Nori was paired with Ono so Kazuya was assigned the other new first year pitcher, Furuya. There were also a few other people who were thinking of being a pitcher, but for the most part they worked with the other catchers.

Kazuya knew that Sawamura wanted to form a battery with him, but he couldn't let the other teen get a big head. He had to work with Chris and that was already more than Kazuya had ever gotten, so maybe he teased the boy a little more because of that. And Sawamura still had the most fun expressions~

A few days later he was called in to see Rei-chan and Sawamura was there too. At first he teased the other boy but when the dumbass started spouting all that crap about Chris-senpai he could not hold back his emotions. How dare this nobody say all those things without knowing anything?

Kazuya admits that he had totally lost his cool and as soon as he left the room and calmed down he got over it. Sawamura was an idiot and Chris hadn't really advertised his therapy to the team, especially to the first years so it was no wonder that Sawamura felt that way. Sawamura was still an interesting pitcher with a moving fastball and it was up to both Kazuya and Chris as catchers to bring out his full potential despite their personal feelings. The incident with Azuma was still fresh in Kazuya's mind.

Sawamura was following Chris-senpai He'd seen it with his own eyes and heard it from Kuramochi's storytelling. Chris didn't seem to be too affected by it and Sawamura had stopped pestering Kazuya to catch his pitches so all in all he didn't care to think about it too much; the southpaw would grow tired of being annoying soon enough.

The days following Kazuya had no room to think on anyone else as he was busy working with Furuya, focusing on the upcoming practice matches, normal practice, and studying. The next time he bothered to look at Chris and Sawamura again it seemed as their battery was forming and they were finally working together with some semblance of camaraderie. Kazuya wondered if Chris noticed Sawamura's moving fastball and what he thought of it…well why wonder if he could just corner Chris with an excuse to speak with him?

They had just came back from a practice game to see that the second string was about to play a match. Kazuya was disappointed to see Chris standing in the dugout instead of leading Sawamura as a pitcher on the field. 'His shoulder might still hurt,' thought Kazuya to himself as he made his way to the indoor practice gym with the rest of the first string.

He wasn't sure how long he had been working out when someone opened the doors and exclaimed that Chris was playing in a game. Without waiting to hear another word Kazuya sprinted to the field as fast as he could – there wasn't a moment to lose.

He caught that last play and was astounded – this was the Chris he had longed to see. He looked at Sawamura on the mound and wondered just what kind of pitching he had done in order to warrant Chris having to sub in.

When Chris called him over to join them in the bullpen after Sawamura had tried to ignore him, Kazuya was beyond ecstatic – Chris-senpai was smiling and the dead look in his eyes was gone. Just what had Sawamura done?

The practice match had ended and Kazuya had his eye on two players to rise to the first string with him - Sawamura and Chris-senpai - they just had to.

Chris wasn't chosen and was instead asked to resume his managerial position - one he had been doing to an extent before, but now seemed to flourish under. He was also regulated to help in the bullpen more and help with Sawamura with his pitching regimen.

Kazuya had to admit he was a little jealous at the amount of time and effort Chris was putting into Sawamura, but then he found out that he was a little jealous that Sawamura was pitching to Chris instead of Kazuya's mitt. The feelings swirled around inside him and he didn't know what to do about it except seemingly to stay jealous of both of them.

Sawamura turned out to be much more interesting than Kazuya had initially given him credit for. Everything he had originally found annoying was now endearing and he was even pleasant to look at. His feelings for Chris hadn't lessened at all, but he found new growing emotions toward Sawamura blossoming within. It was very inconvenient.

Time passed and Kazuya felt even more of an outsider to the growing relationship between Chris and Sawamura. They were more than a battery, they were friends and partners.

Sawamura had saved Chris.

Sawamura had achieved what no one else had been able to do in a year in just a week.

A black pit of jealousy continued to simmer inside Kazuya's stomach. He wanted Chris to look at him the same way the other catcher looked at Sawamura, and he also wanted to be the first one that Sawamura would ask to form a battery with.

It seemed that he had inadvertently pushed those two together. He would try to get a rise out of Sawamura, would throw his arm over the southpaw's shoulders, make snide comments and generally just make fun of the pitcher - it seemed it was the only way to get Sawamura to notice him any more. It was a bit pathetic, but as long as Sawamura kept yelling Kazuya's name at the top of his lungs or turned those blazing golden eyes in his direction Kazuya could deal with being a little pathetic.

He tried to focus on school and baseball. He was the first string regular catcher and couldn't afford to get sidetracked by annoying things like first loves. However, that was easier said than done. Sawamura and Chris seemed to be everywhere he went and looked, and when they weren't near him they were on his mind.

He could easily visualize the soft and proud smile Chris would bestow upon Sawamura, he could remember the glimmering golden eyes and wide smile on Sawamura's face whenever he looked at Chris.

Kazuya wished it was aimed at him instead.

He would see them practicing in the indoor gym at times, Chris' hands were all over Sawamura as he helped the younger teen maintain his pitching form. Chris turned out to be a pretty tactile teacher, or maybe that was just with Sawamura? Kazuya couldn't remember a time when Chris had cared this much for another pitcher. Kazuya wasn't able to blame him though. Sawamura had unknown potential and talent and it was up to the catcher to bring that out, only he wished that he could help out in some way - could find a way to intrude into that bubble the two built together.

They lost the Summer Tournament and the third years retired from the baseball team.

Being Captain was annoying, but at least now he was the catcher that had the full attention of all the pitchers in the bullpen. Despite not seeing Chris and missing him, Kazuya was happy to have more time working one-on-one with Sawamura.

Sawamura has the yips.

Kazuya didn't know that his heart could continue taking a beating like that.The yips...

Such a career ending affliction. He would beat himself up for not seeing it earlier, for nagging at Sawamura about his control both after the loss against Inashiro and against Yakushi. He would lay awake at night, thinking of ways he could help Sawamura get over it, but nothing ever came to mind.

As loathe as he was to admit, he did not have that kind of relationship with Sawamura. He was unable to provide the kind of care and words that Sawamura needed in order to get over the yips. Kuramochi would hound him in class, he would speak with the coach about it, he even asked Tetsu if there was anything he could do as Captain to help Sawamura, but it was no use.

It wasn't until Kuramochi pointed out that Sawamura wasn't really getting any sleep and the southpaw started making glaring errors while at left field that he had to do something drastic.

He spoke to Chris-senpai. He had avoided going that route because it felt too much like admitting defeat. Maybe he wanted to prove to Chris that he could handle Sawamura, that Kazuya could be the catcher the southpaw needed, that he had surpassed Chris and by doing so Chris could finally see Kazuya as more than a teammate.

But that was not to be. Sawamura needed Chris in a way that he didn't need Kazuya. It was a bitter pill to swallow but he shoved away his pride, hid away his desire for both catcher and pitcher, and asked Chris for help.

It seemed that permission was all Chris needed to help. It was hardly a few hours later that he stumbled upon Chris and Sawamura in the indoor gym, back into their own personal bubble that any outside was loathed to puncture, Kazuya included no matter how much he wished he could just walk over there and join them.

And when he saw Chris get up from his crouch and approach Sawamura, bending down to give him a kiss, that was when Kazuya realized just what heartbreak was.

End.