Sawamura was face down on his desk, depressed.
"What's wrong with you?" Kanemaru asks as his classmate isn't loud like usual, "Is Miyuki-senpai teasing you again?"
"No... I'm questioning my self-worth right now..." he mutters.
"Uh..." obviously not expecting an answer like that, Kanemaru sighs, trying to find the right words to say, "Well...just don't go in too deep, or you'll lose yourself."
All he gets is a quiet, "...m'kay."
The day goes on as per usual…except for Sawamura's usual loudness.
"Sawamura…you OK?" Miyuki asks, slightly teasing, "Don't think too hard now~."
"How many players do you know that are self-taught?" Sawamura suddenly asks.
"Self-taught huh…" Miyuki hums in thought, "None that I can think of. Why?"
Sawamura sighs, "Some people aren't lucky enough to have a coach at all. Most people just take it as a privilege that's taken for granted. I just…don't like that. But self-taught players know what's actually important. They work harder than most players to make up for their weaknesses. I really appreciate that."
He's surprised by Sawamura once again, "...huh…"
Miyuki thinks he knows what Sawamura's trying to tell him, but just asks to confirm, "You're self-taught, Sawamura?"
He gets a nod as an answer.
"Well…that explains a lot," Miyuki comments.
'No shit.'
Miyuki pats Sawamura on the head, ruffling his soft hair like a dog, "Just don't let that stop you from doing what you want, OK?"
"OK…" Sawamura leans into Miyuki's hand, sighing in relief, if only temporarily.
Really…all I took was a comment Sawamura heard from the no-string players as they talked behind his back again. He couldn't remember what it was, but it pissed him off.
"You try creating a team from scratch by yourself, leading it as both Ace and Captain, with no coach then?!" Sawamura blurts out in anger, "It's harder than it looks!"
"WHAT?!"
"Ah...crap," Sawamura just realized what he just said, and as he notices that his teammates are still in shock, runs away.
However, he's almost caught by Kuramochi, but safely locks himself in room 5.
"Dammit! He's locked himself in!" Kuramochi yells as he bangs on the door.
"Bakamura~ can you open the door~?" Miyuki taunts from the door, "We just want to talk. I'll catch for you if you do~?"
"NO!" Sawamura yells, "I can't trust a stupid tanuki! Besides, you have Furuya, don't you?! "No pitcher partiality" my ass!"
"OK... I probably deserve that," Miyuki sighs.
"Eijun-kun, is what you just said true?" Harucchi asks.
"...hai," Sawamura sighs from the other side of the door, "I practically had to teach myself baseball the last three years... I had to fight just to be able to play baseball!"
"Then why keep it to yourself?" he asks.
"Mostly, it's because no one noticed and no one asked. Besides, I practically dropped a bomb on the entire team," they can practically hear Sawamura frowning…before going into a full-on rant.
"You guys never notice... no one does! No matter how much I deny it, or how wide I smile, I'm probably the most insecure person on this team. I'm just better at hiding it than you think."
"Eijun-kun…"
"You done?" Miyuki asks.
"…yeah."
"Then, come out please?" Miyuki asks politely, which is unusual for him.
Opening the door slightly, Sawamura pokes his head out, all cat-eyed. He lowly growls, not trusting them one bit… before he feels a hand on his head.
"You work hard despite everything in your way. I'm proud of you."
He looks up, surprised and wide-eyed at Miyuki…before jumping him, wrapping his arms around him like a panda, "Un!"
Miyuki just sighs, his arms full of the puppy pitcher as Kuramochi sneakily takes a picture for blackmail.
"Now then, to make it up to you, I'll catch for you for as long as you want tonight," Miyuki adds.
Just the excited look on Sawamura's face said it all. You could practically see a tail wagging happily.
"No take-backs!"
"Hai hai," Miyuki rolls his eyes but smiles.
"Just one hai is enough!" Sawamura huffs.