Chapter 5: Winter Break
A few days passed since the incident. Kuramochi said nothing to the battery pair and likewise, they didn't bring up the topic with the shortstop. Miyuki acted as if nothing happened and continued to fool around with Kuramochi, while Sawamura made every attempt to avoid eye contact. However, things didn't go smoothly for the pitcher, everything eventually caught up.
Sawamura was eating dinner alone on the table. He was the first one to get food while everyone else loitered around outside; however, the pitcher was only poking at the food, unable find the effort to shovel it into his mouth.
'Great...Kuramochi hasn't said anything yet...and Miyuki's too calm...what do I do...' the worried pitcher agonised over being outed to the entire baseball team.
"Sawamura!" Kuramochi dropped his tray next to the pitcher and went in for a head lock. The pitcher squirmed to break free but to no avail.
"Don't think too hard, you'll fry your brains!" the shortstop continued his grip while laughing.
After a few seconds, the shortstop let loose and put his head next to the pitcher's, such that he was able to whisper right into the younger teen's ears.
"Say...do you receive it or give it?" Kuramochi whispered.
Sawamura turned his head and looked at the third year in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Hahah don't play dumb! Is Miyuki the one on top or are you?" Kuramochi's eyes narrowed in curiousity, making the pitcher feel extremely uncomfortable.
"W-w-wh-at are you saying?!" Sawamura asked as he jumped up from his seat.
"Shhhh! You want everyone else to find out? I don't mind." Kuramochi laughed as he pulled the pitcher back onto his seat.
"We haven't done anything!" Sawamura said, eyes filled with honesty.
Kuramochi stared at the pitcher and gave a sigh.
"You two are no fun..." the shortstop gave up and sat down.
Not long after, the catcher came and sat across from Sawamura, staring at the shortstop and pitcher keenly. Everyone eventually started eating, all except for Sawamura who was still picking at his food.
"Sawamura...what's wrong?" Miyuki asked., causing the pitcher to blush slightly.
"Umm, nothing..." Sawamura said as he quickly gulped a big spoonful of rice down.
"Hahaha, we were just talking about which one of you were on top." Kuramochi said as if it were nothing.
"Of course I'm on top." Miyuki said as if it were nothing and continued his meal.
"M-m-miyuki!" Sawamura stuttered.
"But of course, we haven't done anything like that yet." Miyuki added while Sawamura nodded his head vehemently.
"I know I know, it's just fun to get this guy all jumpy." Kuramochi wrapped his arm around Sawamura's neck and pulled the pitcher in.
"You should see how jumpy he gets when I'm working on him..." Miyuki smirked as his gaze wandered up and down the pitcher.
"GUYS!" Sawamura shouted in a chastising voice.
"Fine fine...we'll stop...I wouldn't want you mad at me tonight." Miyuki gave a big grin as the pitcher flicked a piece of rice onto Miyuki's face.
"Anyways...what are you guys doing over the winter break?" Kuramochi asked.
"I'm going home for the whole week!" Sawamura said happily as he anticipated on seeing his family and middle school friends again.
"I'm gonna head home too...same with pretty much everyone else. How bout you Miyuki?" the shortstop asked.
"Ahh...I'm gonna stay here...my family's not in the country..." Miyuki said as he stuffed his mouth full of food.
"Alone here?!" Sawamura asked as he almost jumped out of his seat.
"I'm use to it, besides, it's only a bit more than 1 week...why? Can't be away from me for more than a week?" Miyuki slyly said.
"O-of-course I can!"
"I've never seen you go back home to visit once since you came to Seidou." Kuramochi said while chewing his food.
At this point Miyuki had lost interest in the conversation.
"What's there to go home to?" the catcher quietly muttered, but it was loud enough for the attentive shortstop and pitcher to catch. Kuramochi knew Miyuki's situation, but Sawamura had a confused look on his face.
The two third years continued chatting away, but the pitcher just stared at the catcher with a worried face.
'Leave it alone Eijun...if he wants to tell you, he will...' the pitcher thought, which was a rare though for the younger teen. He just sat there watching Miyuki and Kuramochi talking and laughing.
- A few weeks later -
Before anyone knew, it was winter break. The entire school had nearly vacated as the students left. All that were left were the baseball club members, still tirelessly practicing.
As twilight dawned, everyone assembled around home plate.
"Good work everyone. School's going to be out and everyone should go home to be with your families. The dorms will still be opened and you'll have access to the kitchen, if you decide to stay here. That's all." the coach said.
"Thank you!" everyone shouted in unison before breaking off to grab their belongings from the dorms.
"Miyuki, you're really staying here?" Sawamura asked with concern while grabbing his stuff off his bed and walking towards the dorm room door.
"Yup. Are you already missing me?" Miyuki snidely asked with a smirk.
"NO!" the pitcher shouted before quickly opening the door as a slight tinge of red rolled over his face.
"I'll see you in about two weeks. Make sure you text me!" Miyuki shouted behind the pitcher's wake.
Sawamura quickly made his way out the school gates. He was trudging along the road towards the train station, back slumped with his backpack on. He felt guilty for leaving Miyuki alone through the winter break and there was a nagging curiousity at the back of his head for the relationship Miyuki and said parents had.
The pitcher eventually reached the platform of the train station. There he stood waiting deep in thought.
"Last train." the intercom broadcasted as the final train for the night stopped right in front of the pitcher.
"W-what?" the dumbfounded pitcher looked at the digital clock hanging from the ceiling and saw that it was almost midnight.
"Oh no! I lost track of time..." The pitcher had been standing around the platform for a good hour, not realising time had flown by at the blink of an eye. However, the southpaw just stood there, staring at the train doors close right in front of him.
'Eijun...what are you doing...you're gonna miss the train!' his mind was hollering at him for the unorthodox behaviour, but his body didn't move. He wanted an excuse; an excuse to go back to the lonely catcher.
'Dammit...' the pitcher cursed as he watched the train roll by leaving the platform for the night. The pitcher then pulled out his cell phone and dialed home.
"Mom...sorry, I have something to do at school this break..." the pitcher started as he made his way back to the school.
The walk was equally as long on the way back. He had told his family that he wouldn't be going home for the winter break and apologised to them and his friends for doing so. Upon reaching the school grounds, he immediately headed over to the dorm rooms.
'Miyuki's sleeping...' the pitcher noted as he reached his and Miyuki's room. The pitcher went to turn the door knob, but resistance met him as it was lock, so he reached into an empty pocket to pull out air.
"Oh great...I didn't bring the keys along..." the pitcher mumbled quietly. The pitcher was about to knock the door hard so that Miyuki would open it for him, but he opted not to disturb the third year's sleep.
'Let's see where I can sleep...' he thought as he walked around the school ground finding any unlocked buildings, but to no avail.
"Great...guess I'll knock..." the pitcher whispered as he found himself back to square one, in front of his dorm room door.
*knock knock knock* Sawamura started lightly, but heard no response after half a minute, so he put more strength into it.
*crickets*
Nothing was heard from within the room. The lights didn't turn on, and the door was opened.
*BANG BANG BANG* the pitcher hit the door with his fist as his patience grew short.
Again, there was no answer.
'Whhhhattt...did Miyuki leave too? Did he lie to me?! I came back to an empty school?!' The pitcher was at disbelief. He took a look at his watch and it was well past 1am.
'This is just great...I guess I'll sleep here tonight...' The pitcher took off his bag, placed it next to the door and sat down right in front of his room door. He leaned his back against the door, curled up with his knees against his chest and drifted off to sleep.
"Mmmmmmhhhh..." the slumbering pitcher stirred. The brisk morning winter air shrouded him, but he felt warm under his coat. He was comfortable and the cool air made him want to stay static.
"WHHHHAAAA" the pitcher shouted as his backing disappeared and he fell onto his back.
"Sawamura! Why are you here? Wait...why are you sleeping outside?!" a semi-angry catcher questioned with a displeased, yet worried face.
"Miyuki! Ummm, I missed my train so I came back...I forgot to bring the keys, and YOU weren't answering the door..so I slept out here...I was banging the door, why didn't you open?!" the pitcher finished in a decrescendo.
"I fell asleep with my headphones on...wait...you missed your train? Baaaaaakaaaaaa..." Miyuki had a teasing face as he drew out the word.
"What?! I-I..." Sawamura stuttered, unable to find the words to retort with.
"Wait...you couldn't have missed your train...you left school too early...don't tell meeee..." Miyuki crouched down so that he was at eye level with the pitcher.
"Wh...what are you doing..." Sawamura tried to back away, but his bag was blocking him.
"Did you come back just to spend time with me?" Miyuki ventured a guess.
"W-w-what?! NO!" the younger teen immediately denied.
"HA, I'm right!" Miyuki shouted in triumph. The catcher stared into the eyes of an embarrassed pitcher and started leaning in to kiss him on the cheeks.
"M-m-mi-yuki!" Sawamura stuttered even though he didn't move away.
Miyuki leaned in closer as Sawamura closed his eyes, but to the surprise of the pitcher, nothing came. Instead, he felt a body drop right on top of his. The pitcher opened his eyes and saw the catcher's body limp right in front of him.
"M-miyuki?" Sawamura asked as he saw the catcher breathing heavily and body shivering on occasion.
'His clothes and hair is soaked in sweat...' Sawamura's mind finally cleared and was able to see the state the catcher was in.
"Miyuki?!' Sawamura shouted again.
"Sorry..." Miyuki weakly said as his eyes cracked open a bit.
Sawamura immediately placed his hand onto Miyuki's forehead and felt the scorching fever the catcher had.
"You have a fever!" a panicked pitcher shouted as he quickly got the catcher off the floor and walked him over to the bed.
"Yeah...sorry, can you grab my medicine from my locker? I forgot to bring it with me yesterday night..." the catcher said.
"You were sick before we left?!" Sawamura asked in surprise.
"It's no big deal...the doctor gave me some medicine, everything should be fine..."
"You don't look fine! I'll be back..." Sawamura quickly grabbed the keys and ran over to the locker room.
A few minutes later, the pitcher came back with the medicine and a glass of water. He helped Miyuki up and passed the pills and glass of water to the catcher.
"You're the baka! What would happen if no one was here?!" the pitcher chastised the catcher.
"It wasn't this bad...I guess the fever broke out yesterday night..."
"I'm glad I decided to stay with you for the break instead..." Sawamura subconsciously said while fuming in anger.
"Ha...so I was right..." Miyuki smiled in triumph.
"Yeah yeah...whatever..." Sawamura waived off the catcher's comments. The pitcher tucked the third year under the sheets and took a look at the time.
"It's noon already...are you hungry?" Sawamura said as he looked back at the catcher.
'Oh...he's asleep...guess I'll make him some porridge...' Sawamura quietly sneaked out of the dorm and went to the cafeteria. Luckily he was able to find a portable stove and the stash of ingredients. From there, he played around to assemble, or rather cook, his pot of porridge.
It was a good hour before he finished. He brought the pot into the dorm room, just in time to see the catcher stir in his slumber.
"Miyuki...you hungry? I made some porridge for you."
A groggy catcher rubbed his eyes to see Sawamura scooping lunch into a bowl.
Sawamura made his way and sat at Miyuki's bedside. He helped Miyuki into a sitting position, grabbed the bowl and spoon and started to scoop a spoonful. He carefully blew the porridge on the spoon to make sure the temperature was right before moving it towards Miyuki's mouth.
"W-w-what are you doing? I can do it myself." Miyuki quickly said as he reached for the spoon.
"What are you saying? Your hands are shaking...I'll feed you!" Sawamura was adamant on accomplishing the chore.
"Ummm..tha..." before Miyuki could finish, Sawamura shoved the spoon into Miyuki's mouth.
'BLEEEEH...' It took a second for Miyuki's mind to register, but it was almost instantaneous.
'What is this?! It...it's so salty...' Miyuki was at a loss for words, but he kept quiet. He looked at the cheerful pitcher smiling happily at his accomplishment as he started cooling another spoonful of porridge.
"How is it? It's my first time cooking." Sawamura smiled as he shoved a second spoonful into the catcher's mouth.
'ARRRRGH...SALTY...NO MORE...' the catcher quickly swallowed it in hopes to save his taste buds. Of course, he didn't want to hurt the pitcher's feelings, so he opted not to spit it out. As he was about to talk, another spoonful was shoved into his mouth.
'SAWAMURA...NO!...' of course, his mouth was full, so only his thoughts ran rampant.
Seeing as how Miyuki was swallowing his food so fast, Sawamura picked up his speed and shoved another spoonful into Miyuki's mouth.
Alas, the catcher could take no more of it. He started to violently cough, ejecting his mouthful of porridge onto, luckily, napkins placed on his lap.
"Are you ok?!" Sawamura asked.
"W-w-wa...ter..." Miyuki whispered.
Sawamura quickly placed the bowl down onto the table and grabbed a glass of water for Miyuki, who chugged it down.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah..." Miyuki responded.
"You scared me...anyways, here's more porridge..." Sawamura grabbed another spoonful for the catcher.
"Ahhh...I'm full...and really tired...I think I'm done..." Miyuki quickly said before the pitcher had a chance to shove the spoon into his mouth.
"Really?! Ok...I'll help you back into bed."
"Thanks for the meal...Eijun...it was good..." Miyuki whispered.
Sawamura blushed at hearing Miyuki call his name. It was the first time, in an intimate setting, that the catcher had called him by his first name.
The moment Sawamura tucked Miyuki in, Miyuki quickly feigned sleep to avoid embarrassment.
'What were you thinking calling him Eijun?!' Miyuki chastised himself.
On the other hand, Sawamura walked over to his porridge and scooped himself a bowl and started to shove it into his mouth.
"BLLLEEEHH.." Sawamura shouted.
Miyuki cracked open his eyes in time to catch Sawamura spitting the porridge out of his mouth.
"Oh man...it's so salty...how did Miyuki eat this...I guess his cold is making the food taste like nothing..." the pitcher started to talk to no one in particular, just voicing his mind to nothingness, but little did the pitcher know, Miyuki was listening to all this.
'Yeah...how did I eat that...' Miyuki replied inwardly.
"...hmmm I guess I should taste test the food as I cook next time..." Sawamura said before leaving the room.
A dumbfounded Miyuki laid there looking at the ceiling.
"You..you didn't..." Miyuki was at a loss for words.
"I'm never eating anything Eijun makes again..."
A/N: Thanks for the review/follow/favourite! And thanks for reading!
Next chapter will be out in 2 weeks time.