GUYS LOOK I FINALLY UPDATED. This was originally going to be a fight between Haruichi and Ryousuke, but I decided to make that into a separate story that will probably be posted in a month or so. I made the ship for this story Furuharu because I think it's the cutest thing ever! Furuharu and Sawaharu are equal to me in terms of how much I like them, but I think I'm better at writing Furuharu. I ship Haruichi with a lot of people to be honest, and I;m thinking about doing a oneshot collection on various people x Haruichi.

I'm not going to continue "Family" because I honestly have no further ideas for that and the other chapter I did have done it horribly written and it's not really worth the post.

I'd also like to clarify that while all the stories in this collection are in the same universe, it's not necessarily in chronological order. This takes place earlier in the year, before the previous chapter. The reason why I didn't have any Furuharu moments in that chapter was because I was torn between which couple I'd make the main one, Sawaharu or Furuharu.

This chapter was written fairly quickly, has total favoritism towards Haruichi, and may or may not be OOC.

I don't own Diamond no Ace because if I did I would give Kawakami so much more love bc he's seriously an angel.

On one particular day, the air in the locker room was thick, at least to Kuramochi it was. He couldn't place his finger on it.

Everything seemed normal. Ryousuke was talking to Jun, both wearing their creepy sadistic grins. Tanba asked Chris for advice on his pitching, while Miyuki was trying to con Kawakami into something that may or may not have been illegal. Masuko was eating his pudding even though food was strictly forbidden in the locker room and was getting scolded by Tetsu.

Kuramochi looked over to the bottom left corner, where the first years' lockers were located, and everything clicked.

The three first string first years were completely quiet. It wasn't exactly odd for Furuya or Haruichi, but the two would usually at least say something in response to Sawamura's obnoxious yells. And yet, the pitcher was quiet, not even complaining when Furuya stepped on his toe.

"What's up with them?" Miyuki asked.

Kuramochi shrugged. "I dunno. Sawamura was fine this morning."

If nobody else noticed the aura the first years were emitting, they certainly did later on during practice. Sawamura's moving balls were even more wild, to the point where even Chris couldn't catch them; Furuya's fastballs lost their speed, with one losing its momentum a few feet before Miyuki; Haruichi was in the batting cages and only hit three balls out of fifty, which shocked everyone considering their pinch hitter had the best batting average on the team, with the next highest at nearly half his own.

"What the hell's going on with our first years?" Jun asked, finally saying what was on everyone's mind.

"Who knows?" Kuramochi scoffed.

"They do," Chris answered. "Sawamura! Come here for a moment."

Sawamura walked over. His face was stoic and emotionless, which only made the team more worried.

Miyuki gulped. "Oi, what's going on with you and the others?"

"Ask Furuya!" Sawamura snapped, running away. The team could hear faint mutters of, "Damn bastard...hurting Harucchi..."

"Perhaps Sawamura wasn't the best person to ask," Tetsu stated. He called over Furuya, who responded to the captain's question with a blank stare.

"I'll just ask Haruichi," Ryousuke said. "He tells me everything. Haruichi!"

The younger Kominato placed his bat on the ground and walked over. "Yes, aniki?"

"What's going on between you, Sawamura, and Furuya?"

Haruichi flushed. "N-nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing."

"We're fine. Why would you think otherwise?"

"Because you can't hit a ball and neither Sawamura nor Furuya can pitch."

"You know, I think Sawamura-kun said he felt sick earlier—"

"That's a lie and you know it. Tell me the truth, Haruichi."

"I am, aniki. It's nothing. "

When Haruichi left, Ryousuke sighed, "Haruichi's definitely hiding something."

"Really? What gave it away?" Miyuki deadpanned. "Whatever it is, we need them to fix it. We've got a game next week."

"We could tell them that if they don't kiss and make up, none of them will get to play," Jun offered. "God knows they'd do anything to pitch or bat for even one inning."

"It won't be genuine if they make up just to play in a game," Chris said. "They have to do it on their own."

"And how do we do that?" Kuramochi asked. "Sawamura's stubborn, Furuya's emotionally constipated, and I don't even know about otouto-kun."

"It is strange," Tetsu added. "Sawamura and Furuya fight every day, but it's never gotten as far as this. The fact that Kominato-kun is involved just makes it more suspicious."

Masuko shrugged. "All friends have their fights. We just have to know how to solve it."

"I say we punch Sawamura until he tells us," Kuramochi said.

"We could also make Furuya run laps during practice," offered Miyuki.

"Leave Haruichi to me," Ryousuke said, a sinister grin on his face.

"Or we could just lock them in a closet until they kiss and make up," Jun snarled. "Kill two birds with one stone, you know?"

"Let's start with just talking to them individually," Tetsu declared. "The faster they make up, the better. Whether we like it or not, we need our first years."

None of them wanted to admit that they did. Sawamura's determination increased the team's by a tenfold. Furuya's faith in the fielders and basemen strengthened the trust between the members. Haruichi's pinpoint batting excited the team; nobody ever knew what he was going to pull off, and the impossible plays he came up with were exhilarating.

Kuramochi and Masuko walked back to their dorm. After being lectured rather sternly by Tetsu that "you two can't force Sawamura to do anything" and "stop rolling your eyes Kuramochi I'm being serious," Kuramochi agreed not to pummel Sawamura for information just yet. As Chris put it, they had to be gentle with Sawamura for whatever reasons Kuramochi didn't bother to listen to.

"Sawamura-chan," Masuko called when they walked in. "We need to talk."

"What is it?" Sawamura asked. He put down the book he was reading and Kuramochi gulped, because Sawamura was studying. Things were more serious than they thought.

Kuramochi put on his best "I'm-Not-Going-To-Kill-You-Today-I-Promise" smile and said with an eerily chipper tone, "Is there anything you wanna tell us, Sawamura-kun?"

Sawamura shook his head, apparently oblivious to the second baseman's change in personality. "No."

"Are you sure?" Masuko asked.

"Yes."

"That's a fucking lie and you know it."

"Kuramochi-chan—"

"I'm not lying," Sawamura said.

"Yes, you are! You and Furuya and Kominato-otouto were complete shit during practice! That isn't like any of you!"

"Maybe we were just having a bad day."

" 'Bad day' my ass! All three of you are too damn determined to let yourselves have a bad day! So tell me what the hell happened or I''ll pulverize you!"

"Nothing happened!"

"Don't lie to your senpais! Tell me, now!"

"Ask Furuya, okay?!" Sawamura snapped. "It's his fault, anyways!"

Sawamura grabbed a towel and walked to the wash room, slamming the door on his way out.

Masuko sighed, "Chris-san told you not to be forceful."

Kuramochi rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. But Sawamura's a dumbass. You gotta be blunt with him. Besides, we got something out of him in the end."

Sawamura grumbled to himself on the way to the bathroom. "Stupid Furuya. Stupid Harucchi. Stupid Cheetah-senpai."

He was too busy staring at the ground to notice the tall person standing in front of him. He opened his mouth to apologize but instead chose to furrow his brows in anger.

"Furuya," he bit out. "Harucchi."

"Furuya-kun, Sawamura-kun," Haruichi said, and Sawamura had to force himself to stop from wincing at the fact that Haruichi called him Sawamura-kun instead of Eijun-kun, and oh God, this was going to be more awkward than that time he walked in on the coach and Takashima making out in the shed.

Furuya did not reply and pushed his way past the two. He stared ahead of him, thankful for the fact that his main problem (that happened to have pink hair with matching eyes) was too short to be in his immediate line of vision.

"At least say something, you bastard!" Sawamura barked.

"I have nothing to say," Furuya retorted. "And we agreed not to, remember?"

"That doesn't matter! A sorry would be good!"

"What should I apologize for?"

"You know what, you bastard—!"

Haruichi smiled sadly and placed a hand on Sawamura's shoulder. "Furuya-kun doesn't have to. It's not his fault, Sawamura-kun."

"But, Harucchi, he—!"

"If anything, it's my fault," Haruichi said. "I shouldn't have expected so much."

"Harucchi..."

"I hope you two are happy." Haruichi turned and walked away, trying to fight back tears.

"Why the hell would I be happy?" Sawamura asked to nobody in particular. "Harucchi's sad, and it's Furuya's fault!"

Furuya breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the bath was empty. He stepped into the warm water and sat in the corner. The room was quiet, too quiet for his liking.

Normally, Sawamura and Haruichi would be with him. The water would be lukewarm at best, since the senpais usually used all the hot water first. Sawamura would go on and on about whatever thing pissed him off that day, and Haruichi would laugh, while Furuya snuck glances at the small pink haired boy, trying very hard not to be caught staring at Haruichi's cute little neck and shoulders and arms and chest and whatever was below—

Furuya sighed. He really hoped whatever was going on would be over soon.

The next day, the aura surrounding the first years was even worse. Furuya's pitches were like Sawamura's in that they went just about anywhere and everywhere; Haruichi hadn't hit a single ball; Sawamura's balls all went right in the middle of the strike zone, a perfect place to hit for most batters. This, in turned, resulted in an overall uneasy feeling within the team, because if Haruichi was sad then Ryousuke would be more focused on him than baseball and if Ryousuke wasn't paying attention then his iron defense with Kuramochi wouldn't work as well and then it would make it harder on the other fielders which of course would pressure Kawakami and Tanba and it just wasn't a good thing in general. It had gotten to the point where even the adults and managers could feel the tension.

"Fix it," Coach Kataoka told Tetsu and Jun.

"What do you suggest we do?" Tetsu asked.

"We've tried everything," Jun added.

"Kominato-kun seems to be the best route," Takashima said. "He's not as expressive as Sawamura-kun nor is he as quiet as Furuya-kun."

"Have his older brother do it," Kataoka added. "And make sure he does it soon. I don't know how long the team can function like this."

The two asked after practice. Ryousuke gladly agreed and walked into Haruichi's room with a grin on his face. The rest of the team waited outside, ears pressed against the door just in case any gossip (though "clues" was the term they used) on what happened between the first years came up.

"Haruichi."

"Oh, aniki! Do you need something?"

They heard a ruffle of papers and something being thrown onto a bed.

"A-aniki?!"

"Tell me what happened."

"I-I don't know wh-what you're talking a-about!"

"Yes, you do. I want to know what went on between you and Sawamura and Furuya!"

"Nothing did!"

"Don't lie to me, Haru-chan."

"I'M NOT LYING!" Haruichi snapped.

The team gasped, each with the same thought running in their minds.

Oh shit.

"Did you just yell at me, Haruichi?"

"And so what if I did?!"

Kuramochi whistled softly. "Damn, otouto-kun's got backbone."

"I didn't think there was anyone fearless enough to talk back to Ryou-san like that," Miyuki agreed, earning him a "Shut the fuck up!" from Jun.

"You've got a lot of nerve, you know..."

"You're the one getting into my business!"

"I'm just trying to figure out why you're so upset!"

Tanba gulped, realizing that Ryousuke's cool composure was gone.

"I'm not!"

The words ceased after that, instead being replaced with loud thumps and groans. The sound of a fist flying through the air was followed by a crunching noise (whether it was bone or wood was up for debate). The team winced when they heard something shatter against the floor.

Please, dear God, don't be someone's head, Kawakami begged silently. Please.

Ryousuke finally walked out seven minutes later. He was panting. Bright red bruises marred his pale skin, with a few of them already turning a sickly purple. The team could even see a bite mark on the back of his calf, trickling slightly with blood.

"H-haruichi's gotten strong," Ryousuke managed to breathe out, before limping away.

Two days later, after Ryousuke could walk normally and the broken nose Haruichi had healed, the team finally went with Jun's suggestion and locked the three first years in a closet.

"What the hell?!" Sawamura yelled. "Let us out!"

"Not until you three kiss and make up!" Miyuki replied, pressing harder against the door.

As Sawamura tried to force the door open, Haruichi and Furuya stared at each other, not saying a word. The closet was small, leaving little room for either of them to move away or even turn around.

"Furuya-kun..." Haruichi breathed out. He tilted his head back, trying to look up at Furuya. This caused his hair to fall to the sides, revealing his vivid pink orbs.

Furuya gulped. He fought the blush that came to his cheeks, because Haruichi was so cute and tiny and sweet and adorable and oh God, Haruichi was staring at him so intensely—

The monster rookie cut his thoughts off, knowing that if he went on, his thoughts about Haruichi would grow more X-rated, and he seriously didn't want to pop a boner at that very moment. The thought of what would happened if he did was enough to make him want to cry.

"F-furuya-kun?!"

Sawamura turned around and laughed. "FURUYA'S GOT A BONER!"

The door opened and in ran the other starting members of the Seidou team. Jun, Kuramochi, and Miyuki fell down to the floor, guffawing loudly. Ryousuke chuckled, Masuko and Kawakami blushed, Tetsu blinked, and Tanba turned so red tomatoes would be put to shame.

"You're so gross, Furuya-kun!" Haruichi yelled. He ran away.

Furuya limply chased after him and fell flat on his face, right into a nice heaping pile of dog poop. He didn't even know how it got there, because they were in dorms and pets were strictly forbidden and he knew that because once someone had mistaken Jun's barking for a dog's which of course lead to a lot of laughter and teasing from the team and Furuya didn't want that to happen to him—

"Furuya-kun?" Haruichi repeated, this time with more concern.

Furuya flinched at the sound and cleared his throat. He didn't know what to refer to Haruichi as. "Kominato-kun" didn't feel right, but neither did something as childish (read: adorable) as "Harucchi."

"Komi...ichi," Furuya managed to get out, immediately regretting it.

Haruichi cocked his head to the side and pushed up on his tip toes a bit more, trying to read the emotion and Furuya's face. He blushed when he realized he was staring and retreated. "We should try to get out of here..."

"It's no use!" Sawamura grunted. "They put Masuko-senpai at the door!" He was about to say something else until he remembered just who he was locked in the closet with. "Furuya. Harucchi."

"Sawamura-kun, Furuya-kun," Haruichi replied, basically repeating their conversation from a few days ago.

"Say something too, Furuya!" Sawamura snapped. "It's your fault we're in this mess!"

"I don't understand how it is," Furuya finally said. "What did I do?"

"You mean you don't know?" Sawamura asked incredulously.

"This is getting good!" Miyuki whispered on the other side of the door. "I wonder what our monster rookie did that made Sawamura that mad for so long."

"You made Harucchi cry!"

The team visibly stiffened. They all turned to Ryousuke simultaneously, who was radiating an aura eerie enough to send chills down Tetsu's spine.

"Ne, what color do you think Furuya's blood is?" Ryousuke asked gleefully, already plotting ways to murder the pitcher.

Furuya's eyes widened in shock. He focused them on Haruichi, who was staring down at the floor.

"I...I did?" Furuya asked, his voice almost breaking.

"Well yeah!" Sawamura said. "I mean, you rejected Harucchi after he told you he liked you! What do you think he'd do?!"

"Otouto-kun has feelings for Furuya?!" Kuramochi exclaimed.

"Things just got a little more interesting, that's for sure," Miyuki stated.

"First I have to chop up Furuya's body into pieces," Ryousuke muttered to himself. "And then I have to bury the parts in different places..."

"I like you too, though," Furuya said. "Did you think I didn't?"

"I meant...romantically," Haruichi replied.

"When did you confess to me?" Furuya asked. He didn't recall ever rejecting Haruichi; if anything, he would have gladly accepted the pink haired boy's affections and returned them with vigor.

"I asked Sawamura-kun to do it..."

Sawamura yelled, "Don't you remember, Furuya? After practice on Thursday?"

Furuya and Sawamura just finished running their laps. Before they parted ways, Sawamura asked his rival to stay back.

"What?" Furuya asked. On a normal day, he would have just ignored the hotheaded brunet, but he decided that today was the day he'd give Sawamura a chance.

That chance was gone the moment Sawamura opened his mouth.

"And Harucchi basically forced me to do this! He can be scary sometimes, you know. I think he gets it from oniisan..."

Furuya immediately zoned out, thinking about how cute Haruichi was earlier when he was asked to do a problem on the board in class. The teacher wrote the problem too high for Haruichi, so he needed to step on a couple of textbooks to reach it. The girls in the class cooed and squealed, while Furuya did the same. Internally, of course.

"Furuya!" Sawamura hollered, snapping the taller teen from his thoughts. "Is it yes or no?"

Furuya didn't know what the hell Sawamura just asked, but it was Sawamura which meant it was probably something irrelevant.

"I don't care," he replied, walking away.

If he had been paying attention, he would have heard Sawamura's important, Haruichi-related question.

"Harucchi's got feelings for you. Do you accept them?"

"I just thought Sawamura's was saying something stupid," Furuya admitted.

"Bastard!" Sawamura yelled indignantly.

"But Furuya-kun...I asked you if you were sure the next day," Haruichi said.

Class had just ended. Furuya and Haruichi were walking over to the field, wanting some extra practice.

"Furuya-kun," Haruichi said. "Did Eijun-kun tell you something yesterday?"

Furuya nodded and Haruichi continued, "And you're certain of your reply?"

When Furuya nodded again, Haruichi smiled sadly. "Oh. Okay then."

Furuya felt an unknown feeling well up in his stomach. He quickly tried to remember what Sawamura asked him last night. If his response did anything to make Haruichi sad, he would forever regret it.

The word "scary" was the first thing to pop up in Furuya's memories. Next came "Harucchi", "or", and "me." Perhaps Sawamura was asking who was scarier, he or Haruichi?

"Sawamura is," he replied.

Haruichi gasped, and if his hair didn't cover his face, Furuya would have seen the tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "You prefer Eijun-kun?"

Furuya found the wording to be a bit odd, but he chose not to think too much about it and nodded.

Haruichi sniffled. He did know that Sawamura had feelings for someone else on the team. Though the pitcher was reluctant to reveal just who it was, Haruichi had it down to three people: Miyuki, Chris, and Furuya. If it was indeed Furuya, Haruichi felt guilty that he had asked Sawamura to confess for him.

"You two will be good together," Haruichi managed to say.

"You like me?" Furuya asked, turning to Sawamura.

"N-no!" sputtered Sawamura, and deep blush on his face. "But that does explain why Harucchi was so angry later on..."

Sawamura was next to arrive. Haruichi was no longer at the batting cages. Instead, he was in the dugout. His knees were pulled up to his face, his back trembling slightly. As Sawamura drew near, he could hear muffled sobs.

"Harucchi?" Sawamura asked. "Are you okay?"

Haruichi flinched. He glanced at the sudden visitor. He didn't want to be mad at Sawamura, honestly, but the person who was the object of his crush's affections was someone nobody could handle seeing without feeling some type of anger, especially after getting rejected.

"I'm fine," Haruichi said. He sniffled and attempted to walk out of the dugout, bumping into Sawamura.

"Harucchi?"

"You don't have to lie to me anymore," Haruichi said. He tried to keep his anger down. Furuya and Sawamura were the closest friends he's had in a long time, and he didn't want to ruin that. If they were happy, he was. Honestly. He was.

"I'm not lying."

"I know how you feel, Sawamura-kun. Please, just be honest."

"S-sawamura-kun?" Sawamura repeated. "What happened to Eijun-kun?!"

"I...I just don't think I should refer to you like that anymore," stated Haruichi.

"What's wrong with you, Harucchi? Is it because of Furuya?"

At the mention of the stoic pitcher's name, Haruichi snapped. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Of course!" Sawamura replied. "If he's the reason you were crying, I'll kick his ass! I'll even get oniisan to help me!"

"Stop lying to me, Sawamura-kun!" Haruichi yelled.

Furuya heard the noise and walked over. It was rare for Haruichi to raise his voice above a simple cheer for a fellow player, and it was equally as rare for Sawamura's rage to be directed at his best friend.

"I'm not lying!" Sawamura shouted. His anger-filled eyes focused on Furuya. "It's your damn fault Harucchi's like this!"

"Don't blame Furuya-kun!" Haruichi defended. He took in several deep breaths. He felt the temporary fury within him cease. Forcing a small smile onto his face, he said, "It's my fault. I shouldn't have expected anything at all."

"Harucchi..." Sawamura said softly. "I'm sorry." He didn't know exactly what he should be sorry for, but he didn't know what else to say.

"Don't be," Haruichi replied. "Can I request something?"

When Furuya and Sawamura nodded, he continued, "I...I think it's best for all of us if we don't talk to each other anymore in anything not related to baseball. It's selfish of me, but I think that, the more I'd talk to either of you, the more I'd fall."

"But—"

"Please, Sawamura-kun," Haruichi begged. "Please."

Sawamura and Furuya nodded, not exactly sure why Haruichi didn't want to speak to either of them again. Neither of them wanted to, and would in fact give anything in the world not to, but Haruichi looked so desperate and sad that the need for Haruichi to be happy overcame the need to talk to him.

Haruichi smiled once more. "Thank you. I hope you two are happy together."

"I don't get it," stated Jun.

"Kominato-kun asked Sawamura to confess to Furuya for him. Furuya wasn't paying attention and assumed that Sawamura asked who was scarier, he or Kominato-kun. This caused Haruichi to think that Sawamura and Furuya liked each other. He wanted his friends to be happy, so he distanced himself," Tetsu explained. And now to see how it all plays out.

"You like me?" Furuya asked once again, this time to Haruichi, who flushed and nodded.

"I don't want you to think you have to return my feelings, so I'm fine if you don't say anyth—" Haruichi stopped, feeling something press against his mouth.

They were Furuya's lips.

Satoru Furuya was never good with words, so he didn't know how to convey his feelings towards the small pinch hitter. He had hoped the kiss would say everything he couldn't, like how much he adored Haruichi's hair, and eyes, and smile, and blush, and the way he would pump his fist whenever he got on base, and the way he smelled like strawberries, and the way he hated tomatoes so much but ate them anyways because Miyuki told him he would grow taller if he did.

Haruichi went on his tiptoes, removing the strain on Furuya's back from having to bend down so low.

Furuya pulled back for breath. Haruichi smiled sheepishly and Furuya went back in, deepening the kiss. It was Furuya's first, so he relied on what information he got from movies and television to show him what to do. He ran his tongue down Haruichi's lower lip, almost smirking when the latter opened his mouth.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Sawamura yelled. "HARUCCHI AND FURUYA ARE MAKING OUT! OH MY GOD, THERE'S TONGUE. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN THERE, FURUYA? I'M PRETTY SURE WHAT'S IN HIS MOUTH IS IN YOURS TOO!"

Just as Furuya coaxed Haruichi's tongue to play with his own, he felt a sharp pang of pain hit the back of his head. He fell unconscious and landed on the ground with a soft thump, a thin line of saliva connecting his mouth to Haruichi's.

The cause of Furuya's head trauma smirked. "Don't you know you're supposed to ask permission from the family first?"

Ryousuke dragged Furuya by the collar, laughing evilly. The rest of the team shivered, save for Haruichi, who remained in a daze. When he realized that everyone had seen he and Furuya make out, the blush on his cheeks intensified to an unhealthy looking color. He ran away, trying to avoid any further embarrassment.

Miyuki coughed and asked, "Am I the only one who thought that was kind of hot?"

"No," the team replied unanimously.

MORE RUSHED ENDINGS BECAUSE I'M LAZY AND I DON'T WANT TO WRITE MORE. Also I just realized that I had the sentence "I'm not lying!" used at least five times. The next chapter will either deal with the team going to the mall or a giant study session; I'm not sure yet.

I will probably update this next month. Right now, my other fanfic for Fairy Tail takes priority over the others. I still have around 20 or so chapters to go for that one, which means all other fics will be updated on a monthly basis.

Thanks for reading!