Miyuki was honestly anxious and excited about his roommate, but when he opened the door... there was the little middle schooler he only caught for once. Sawamura Eijun.

"Oh~? So you actually came to Seido~ even after you were so adamant about not going~?" He can't help but tease since this kid's just so fun to rile up.

"You changed my mind, Miyuki Kazuya!" Sawamura's gone cat-eyed, "So don't make me regret it!"

Laughing, Miyuki opens the door and lets his new roommate in, not knowing the effect this'll have on his life from now on.

After settling in...

"Want to play catch?" Sawamura asks, hoping to break the awkward silence.

Miyuki knows he should say no but... he sighs, "Let me get my glove."

Sawamura smiles, lighting up as he gets his own glove, "Oshi!"

All Miyuki can think about is, shaking his head, 'Loud...really loud. I might need earplugs this year.'

Outside, while playing an easy game of catch...

"Seriously though, what made you want to come to Seido?" Miyuki asks.

"I told you! You changed my mind!" Sawamura yells.

It takes a moment for Miyuki to wrap his mind around it, around the idea that his actions and words have an effect on other people, his body on auto-pilot, "You mean...you came here for me?"

Sawamura's face turns pink, "...yes."

"Oh..." Miyuki's face is now also pink, the both of them embarrassed.

It takes a few minutes for them to calm down and accept reality, but they manage.

"Still, your pitching is unique. Did your coach teach you how to throw a fastball?" Miyuki asks.

"..." Sawamura mutters.

"What was that?"

"...I said that I'm self-taught."

"You didn't have a coach?" Miyuki blinks.

"Nope! Out in the countryside, most people aren't that into baseball...so I had to teach myself."

"And how far have you gone with that?"

"I also had to teach my middle school team, so there wasn't enough time for me to teach myself much," Sawamura answers, proudly declaring, "You already know about my pitching, but I'm a master bunter."

Miyuki raises an eyebrow, "I'll believe it when I see it, puppy."

"P-Puppy?! I'm not a dog!"

"You are one~," Miyuki smiles, teasing him again.

"If I'm a dog, you're a tanuki!" Sawamura retaliates.

"Tanuki?"

"Yeah. Tanuki, you sneaky bastard!"

Miyuki laughs, "OK then! I'm fine with that!"

"Hmph!" Sawamura huffs.

Five minutes pass...

"Does anyone at Seido know besides me?"

"I don't know if Takashima-san knows or not..." Sawamura shrugs, "But probably not."

"And you told me why?"

"You asked," he replies, "If no one asks, I won't answer."

"So, if I didn't ask, no one would've known, huh..." Miyuki muses, wetting his lips. 'He's that simple, huh...'

"Besides, I'm choosing to trust you, Miyuki Kazuya. Don't make me regret it."

Miyuki feels shivers up his spine as Sawamura looks at him with lion eyes, like a lion about to devour prey.

"Alright," he smiles, trying not to appear as shaken as he feels at the moment.

"Oshi!"

In an instant, Sawamura goes from a lion to back to his usual puppy self. It throws Miyuki for a loop...but he figures he has the next two years to get used to it.

After a few more minutes, Miyuki catches the ball, "We should stop here for tonight. We have practice in the morning, and first-years have to get evaluated."

Sawamura pouts, "...OK."

"Now now~ Don't pout~. We can continue talking later. We have plenty of time for the next two years," Miyuki assures.

"AH! You're right, Miyuki Kazuya!"

As they go back into their room...

"When are you going to call me senpai?"

"When you deserve it!"

"Don't I deserve it for listening to my roommate and kohai~?"

"...Maybe, Miyuki-senpai. Maybe."

"I'll take what I can get then," Miyuki shrugs as they go to bed for the night.

"Good night!"

"Good night."

Miyuki was still awake in bed, listening to Sawamura's soft breathing, thinking about what they talked about tonight.

At this point, Miyuki's both impressed and exasperated since he'll have his work cut out for him when it comes to teaching Sawamura baseball for the first time. Also, he's a bit excited to see Sawamura grow as a pitcher and as a person. The untapped potential and unpredictability will make the next two years interesting for sure.

And...because this puppy followed him to Seido just so he could pitch to him. Honestly, Miyuki wouldn't have it any other way.

The next morning...

"Miyuki?! What happened? It's not like you to be up so early!" Kuramochi's surprised since Miyuki usually gets up at around 9.

Groaning, a can of coffee in his hand, Miyuki answers, "My roommate happened."

"Kyahaha! Is he one of those early risers?!" Kuramochi doubles over in laughter.

"He woke me up at dawn!" he mutters, "But he at least got me coffee. Said it was as black as my soul."

Kuramochi pats him on the shoulder, "Well, at least you won't be late to morning practice anymore!"

When the first years are getting evaluated...

Sawamura's bunting ends up with a high mark as he killed the ball's momentum, letting it roll slowly to the line.

Everyone's surprised, especially Miyuki.

"Told you so, tanuki!" Sawamura yells.

Miyuki smiles, shaking his head, "Hai hai. I get it, puppy."

When the 1st string plus 1st years invade their room though...

Sawamura huffs, "Hai Hai. I'll hold down the fort for you...but you owe me a catching session!"

Miyuki rolls his eyes but agrees. Anything to get a good night's sleep without a puppy waking him up at 5:30 in the morning.

"So~?"

"So what?"

"How's Miyuki as a roommate?"

"He's fine...for a tanuki bastard."

The only good thing about this is Sawamura's only quiet when he's reading (usually his shoujo manga or books for Lit. class). He can be quiet...which is the only solace Miyuki has with his roommate. For example...

Miyuki dumps a bunch of his old, basic baseball books in front of Sawamura, "I expect you to read all of these."

Sawamura keens in distress at the load of books before sighing, grabbing a book, and skimming through the pages, "...Alright."

He blinks, not expecting him to agree so easily, "Huh..."

"What?"

"I honestly thought you'd...you know, shake me around or yell at me like you usually do."

He narrows his eyes, "I was going to teach myself baseball anyway, even if I didn't go to Seido, so... this doesn't change much. You just provided me with the material."

"Really? You'd still teach yourself?"

"I'm comfortable with it, OK?!" he yells before sighing, "Besides, I'm not used to having someone watching out for me like this..."

"For baseball?"

"In general."

"Ah..." Miyuki, not knowing what else to say...other than, "But you have me now, so..."

Sawamura looks at him with shining, hopeful eyes, his face flushed before using the book as cover, "O-OK..."

A bit embarrassed as well, Miyuki coughs before he quickly goes to the door, "Well~ Good luck reading all those~!"

"Jerk!" he hears Sawamura yell as he closes the door shut, smiling knowingly as that's just how they are now.

And of course, Miyuki goes to Chris for help with the puppy pitcher.

'He trusts me...so he'll at least listen to me,' Miyuki muses.

When assigned to Chris:

"Sawamura...listen to Chris, or I won't catch for you anymore."

"WHAT?!" He yells before seeing how serious Miyuki is and pouting, "...fine."

Miyuki pats his head like he would a dog, "Don't worry. You can trust him."

"If you say so..."

"Good boy," Miyuki smiles.

"I'm not a dog!"

During the Inashiro game...

"I won't shake off your calls...unless something's really wrong."

'I can work with that,' Miyuki nods, "OK. I expect nothing less."

After the dead ball, Sawamura shook off the next call.

"Time out!" Miyuki calls, running over to his pitcher.

"You OK?"

"Just...give me a minute..." Sawamura takes deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

What he doesn't realize is that he's unconsciously gripping Miyuki's hand. No one told him until after the game was over.

"Just focus on me and my mitt," Miyuki assures, squeezing his hand.

"Alright... I trust you."

Still shaken by the dead ball, Sawamura ignores the batter and pitches to Miyuki's mitt.

Seido won.

However, it wasn't until later that Sawamura still got the yips.

After a long day, Sawamura still makes sure Miyuki sleeps and isn't overwhelmed by his responsibilities... even if he has to drag him to bed to take a nap.

"Oi, Kuramochi-senpai, Zono-senpai, can you take over Cap's duties for today?" Sawamura shamelessly asks.

"You got it!" Kuramochi replies.

"Why?!" Zono asks.

"Cuz Cap looks like he needs a nap!" Sawamura yells, "He's only 6 months older than me. Only 16! He deserves a break, especially with all these responsibilities and pressure on him!"

"Sawamura... I don't want to. I can handle it myself just fine!" Miyuki complains.

"You're not like Tetsu-senpai, you're just you, Miyuki Kazuya! No one expects you to change just because you're Captain now! Try to rely on others more, tanuki!"

Kuramochi pats Zono's shoulder, "You heard him..."

Zone sighs, "...fine. I might as well act like a Vice-Captain from now on."

"You are a Vice-Captain..."

"Great!" Sawamura smiles.

He grabs Miyuki's arm and drags him back to their room.

Pushing Miyuki onto the bed, he lays down on top of him.

"What're you doing?" He blinks.

"Making sure you actually nap," Sawamura cockily replies.

'Damn... I must've rubbed off on him too much.'

Sighing, Miyuki takes off his glasses and puts them on the nightstand, "...fine. If you insist."

"Hm..."

They get comfortable quickly, Miyuki's fingers stroking Sawamura's locks, "How was training? You gonna be OK by yourself?"

"...yeah. It's not any different from not having a coach at all but..." Sawamura mutters.

"But?"

"Isolating me from the team isn't what I need right now."

"Then what do you need?"

"If I don't believe I can bounce back from this, I'm not going to...so I need someone to tell me that."

Miyuki looks at Sawamura, honey gold eyes staring back at him, completely serious, "You can bounce back from this. I know you can... just don't keep me waiting too long."

"Better?" Miyuki smiles as Sawamura's eyes start sparkling.

"Yeah... thanks."

Miyuki nods before yawning, "You're still gonna take care of me, whether I like it or not?"

"Yup. You can't get rid of me that easily," Sawamura smiles.

"Good..."

They fall asleep like that for the day.

From then on, until Sawamura was called back, they continued to sleep like that.

When Miyuki gets injured...

Kuramochi's POV

Sawamura's gotten protective of Miyuki, practically guarding him like a "good guard dog."

It's kinda annoying, especially since he fuckin' growls, but...

Miyuki just pats Sawamura's head before scolding him, Sawamura yelling back as Miyuki laughs.

I guess...they're good for each other.

Omake: Sawamura causing a racket again.

"Oi! Miyuki! Control your dog!"

"I'm not a dog!"