The first thing Eijun hears every morning is Kuramochi's laughter—a grating cackle that makes him want to unceremoniously hurl a shoe in his senpai's face. He doesn't, of course, but it makes for an amusing fantasy.
"Sawamura, your girlfriend says good morning. You dawg!" the shortstop coos, one arm wrapped around Eijun's neck in a chokehold, the other busy fiddling with his phone. His roommate's fresh from the shower, naked except for a towel lazily wrapped around the waist, and Eijun's mind is going back and forth between how much of an ass Kuramochi is for going through his phone and how nice he smells and dammit stop thinking about that.
"I told you, quit replying to her."
"I will when I get a babe of my own."
"But that's never gonna hap—I mean… Crap."
Kuramochi knits his eyebrows, glaring daggers at Eijun as he cracks his knuckles. "Crap is right, bastard. Think you're so hot 'cause you got a girl? Get over here!"
"She's just a childhood—Gyah!" Kuramochi slips behind Eijun in one fluid motion, hooking both arms under the pitcher's armpits, clasping his hands around Eijun's nape. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I tap out!"
They wrestle on the bed for a good half-hour until a knock comes on the door and a yawning Miyuki Kazuya, some semblance of bedhead still visible, walks in. "You guys were taking so long to breakfast they sent me to—Oh. Oh." A wicked smile spreads across his face.
It's a very compromising position, to say the least. Eijun is on his back, legs parted to accommodate Kuramochi lying on top of him, their arms tangled around each other's torsos, faces centimeters away from touching. The freshman's flushed complexion and the sophomore's state of undress aren't exactly help their case, either.
"I see," Miyuki mutters. "Guess there's still time for a quickie. I'll lock the door for you." With that, he leaves.
Kuramochi erupts in outrage and promptly chases after the catcher. "Miyuki, you little—get back here! Don't you dare tell the others that!"
"At least put some clothes on first!" Eijun calls out in vain.
That morning will go down as one of Kuramochi's most memorable (and most embarrassing) moments in high school.
Later that day, as Eijun retreats to their room after some post-practice mentoring sessions with Chris, he notices Kuramochi asleep on his bed, holding his phone. Masuko is suspiciously missing, though the pile of empty pudding containers on his bed makes it safe to assume he went out to buy more.
"Jeez, if you're gonna sleep, do it in your own bed," Eijun grumbles even though he knows his roommate can't hear him. He picks up the phone and opens an unread text message.
I'm glad to hear you're working hard and getting along with your teammates. We're doing great over here, too. Let's both do our best, 'kay?
Eijun checks the sent messages, thankful that his senpai lacks the common sense to delete them. This is when he notices all of them are free from the douchebaggery that is expected of Kuramochi, and that they, surprisingly, all sound like things Eijun would actually say. For a moment he forgets to breathe, trying to wrap his mind around the possibility of Kuramochi—Kuramochi freaking Youichi—not taking advantage of the situation to make him look like an idiot.
Eijun laughs, overcome by a complicated mix of relief, irony, and gratitude. He peers at his roommate's face, uncharacteristically innocent when sleeping, almost the face of someone you could trust. Eijun's thoughts go back and forth between how he's now faced with the impossible task of saying thank you and how damn loud Kuramochi snores.
He finds himself smiling. Maybe he won't thank the idiot just yet, make him jealous about the whole girlfriend thing a little bit longer. Call it compensation for all the wresting moves used on him—they fucking hurt.
To Leafy: THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the review. That moment you're talking about is when Chris is helping Sawamura with his pitching form, right? I also thought he was "groping his butt" back then. Real smooth, Chris. XD