Thank you for all the follows and faves! It means a lot to me. :)

I wasn't sure on how to portray Miyuki's father, so I just depicted him having a bad relationship with his son. ~.~

Chapter 2: Progress

Kazuya had been right about there not being any practice...for the afternoon, that is. Everyone had woken up at the usual five-thirty AM for morning practice as they usually would. Coach Kataoka had them gather around the field to discuss how they would be practicing much harder that morning than they usually would, since they weren't going to have afternoon practice due to the heat wave coming in.

Eijun had only been half listening, occasionally glancing over at Kazuya, worried about how he would keep an eye out for him at practice. They wouldn't always be paired up together, with so many pitchers on the team. Sometimes Furuya and Kazuya practiced together, while Eijun practiced with Chris, or they all switched up and would practice with other pitchers or catchers on the team that weren't on the first-string.

He hadn't noticed that Kataoka had stop speaking to them or even the players scattering about, until a hand landing on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. Snapping out of his daze, he looked around to find that he and Kazuya were the only ones left standing on the field.

"Come on, Eijun. Let's get you warmed up." Eijun frowned, Kazuya was smiling and being his usual, annoying self, but how long would the facade last? He felt like everything Kazuya had told him, long before he'd learned the truth, had been nothing but big, fat lies. Partially, they were; going to Koshien that summer had been the biggest one of them all.

"Oh, sure..." he mumbled, trying to avoid glancing at the catcher's sleeved arms, wanting to ease his mind and churning stomach of the images of what those arms really looked like under them. He wondered to himself if Kazuya had gotten used to wearing long sleeves in the summer, because even with short sleeves on, he himself was sweating like crazy.

As they arrived in the bullpen, Furuya, who had been warming up with Miyauchi, looked at Eijun and nodded slightly, acknowledging the other's presence. While they were rivals competing for the same position as the Ace, they were still pretty close friends. Being on the first string as a first year, with only two others, meant that they had to get along. Haruichi, him, and Furuya had bonded over the months of practicing together and hanging out in each others classrooms during their lunch break or on days off from practice.

All three of them trusted one another and never beat around the bush when it came to things that were bothering them, yet Eijun felt his stomach flip a little. 'Harucchi and Furuya deserve to know...but how do I tell them without it getting back to Miyuki? I can't lie to them...that's not what best friends do.'

"Eijun, are you gonna pitch or what?"

Eijun nodded, quickly shaking off any unnecessary thoughts as he took up his pitching form, delivering a moving fastball to the inside. He'd thought that he was doing fine, but the sour look Kazuya was giving him showed otherwise.

Kazuya sighed, standing up and removing his catcher's mask as he stared at him with cold eyes. Eijun felt his heart stop as he looked back at the catcher hesitantly. "That would have been a home run, Eijun." Kazuya hissed, making the pitcher's frustration increase. He just wanted to pitch, yet the catcher was making this more difficult than needed.

"Try it again."

Eijun fought off the urge to retaliate, saying he had been pitching fine, but bit his tongue to keep himself from spouting it out. "Fine. Whatever you say, Miyuki." That earned him a light bonk on the head from the catcher. "It's Ka-zu-ya, not Mi-yu-ki!" Kazuya snapped harshly; that was the last straw for Eijun.

"Why do you want me to call you that anyways? It's the same thing, whether I call you Kazuya or Miyuki." Eijun just couldn't understand why Kazuya was throwing a fit over what he wanted to be called; they both referred to the same person, after all.

That struck one of Kazuya's nerves. Taking a deep breath as a calming method, he dropped the ball in his hand, having it slowly roll towards Eijun's feet. "Drop it, Eijun..." He advised, not wanting to let his anger get the better of him. The last thing he wanted was to hurt the pitcher or make him cry over something as frivolous as a name.

"Or you'll do what?" Eijun irked, holding his ground against the catcher as he glared harshly at him. Kazuya never ceased to aggravate him, when things seemed to be going smoothly. And why would now be any different from before?

Furuya and Miyauchi had stopped practicing and turned to look at the bickering teens. Furuya kept silent, not wanting to interfere with the two, preferring not to get involved in the matter if it didn't concern him. "You better lay off, kid." Miyauchi commented, seeing how the catcher was on the verge of lashing out at the southpaw. Kazuya's body shook with rage as he glared at Eijun, gritting his teeth, hands curling up into fists as he tried once more to calm himself down.

"Not until he gives me an answer! He always does this and it's really starting to piss me off!" Eijun exclaimed, fed up with everyone taking the catcher's side. Why couldn't they see that he wasn't the one at fault here? Kazuya had started all of it, not him. If he had just let him pitch, there wouldn't be a brewing storm conjuring up in the bullpen.

At the sound of Eijun's voice bellowing through the field, most of the Seido players had turned their sights to the bullpen, to see what all the fuss was about, though, the sight of the catcher's mask hitting the ground was enough to fully grab their attention.

Kazuya hastily walked over to where the pitcher was standing, stopping in front of him, leaning in dangerously close to his face. At the looming angle, he noted that Eijun had light freckles dotting along his sun-kissed skin. "You think that you're the only one who's pissed off, huh? Well Eijun, that's where you're wrong." Kazuya's hand roughly grabbed Eijun's shoulder, and as a reflex, the pitcher grabbed hold of the catcher's wrist and attempted to pry it off.

"Let go of me, Miyuki!"

"It's Kazuya, and who says that I have to obey you?"

"Who says that I even want you as my catcher!?"

Eijun regretted the words once they flew out of his mouth as he noted the expression on Kazuya's face, making him feel like the biggest asshole in the world. Kazuya had opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out and he hastily shut it; his light brown eyes had widened in shock and had started to well up with tears. Before Eijun could apologize, Kazuya's hand slipped from his shoulder, and he couldn't stop him from storming out of the bullpen, slamming the gate shut behind him.

All eyes were on the pitcher as he watched the catcher leave from his sight. At that moment, he knew that he'd fucked up big time. He supposed he could go chase after him, but what would he say once they were alone?

Eijun couldn't concentrate; his mind kept replaying what had happened during practice that morning over and over. He felt ashamed of what he'd told Kazuya, but how exactly was he going to apologize for what he'd said to him? The catcher was already hurting enough as it is and he just had to go and open his big mouth, hurting him even more.

He wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the catcher resented him for it and kicked him out of the dorm; Kataoka would just have to find someone else to help Kazuya out.

"Sawamura-kun, what's wrong?" Yoshikawa Haruno asked worriedly as she approached him during their lunch break. Eijun was usually chipper and seen scarfing down his lunch, as if it were the first thing that he'd eaten all day; today, Eijun just seemed to be out of it. He wasn't smiling or engaging in any conversations or even eating. Instead, he sat there with his history textbook out, opened up to the pages they were supposed to be reading for homework.

"Miyuki is what's wrong." Eijun replied softly, never taking his eyes off of the words printed in the textbook. Haruno frowned at his quiet response as she took the empty seat in front of him. There was no way Eijun could stay like this. Shutting the textbook hastily, it forced Eijun to look up at her. "What happened, Sawamura-kun? Did you two get into a fight?"

He nodded sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought back to the events of that morning. "Yeah...I told him,"Who says I even want you as my catcher" and he got really upset over it and just stormed out of the bullpen."

Haruno thought to herself for a moment, unsure of what to say to Eijun to help him resolve the conflict. When it came to apologizing to their friends, guys were pretty different from girls.

From across the room, Kanemaru strutted over from his group of friends to ask Eijun something that everyone seemed to wonder. "Sawamura, just what the hell happened between you and Miyuki-senpai during practice?" Eijun frowned, not really wanting to repeat what he'd just told Haruno, he replied simply with, "We got into a fight and now he's upset at me."

Kanemaru and Haruno exchanged sympathetic looks for the pitcher. A depressed Eijun was never a good sign. "Sawamura-kun, have you apologized to Miyuki-senpai yet?"

Eijun cast his eyes downwards, trying not to meet their inquisitive gazes. "No."

Kanemaru sighed, shaking his head at the pitcher in disbelief. "He probably doesn't even know how." Eijun's eyes widened in shock. Kanemaru sure caught on to his problems fast. "How did you know!?"

Both of them looked startled at his outburst, but let it slide for now. At least Eijun was slowly reverting back to his old self again. Haruno had just come up with a solution. She didn't know whether or not it would actually work - Kazuya and Eijun were both guys after all - but it was worth a shot. "Sawamura-kun, why not just go up to his classroom and talk to him about your problem and try to work out an agreement?"

Of course, why didn't he think of that!?

Eijun bolted up from his chair, and grabbed Haruno's hands, shaking them up and down repeatedly with a huge grin on his face. "Thank you, Yoshikawa-chan! I'll go do that!"

Eijun found himself on the second years floor, completely lost and unsure of which classroom was Kazuya's. They all looked the same to him. He didn't know anybody either, so asking for help was out of the question.

Did this mean that he'd have to search every single one? Lunch break wasn't that long and there were multiple classrooms to be searched. He'd be lucky to have searched half of them by the time the school bell rang for students to return to their assigned class.

"Sawamura, what are you doing up here?" Kuramochi's voice called out from behind him. Eijun jumped a bit, turning around to face the shortstop with a look of relief. "Kuramochi-senpai!"

Kuramochi's uniform shirt was wrinkled, his hair a disheveled mess, and by looking closely enough, his bottom lip was bleeding a bit. "Yeah, it's me. What are you doing here anyways? Shouldn't you be downstairs with the other first years?"

Eijun snickered at his roommates appearance. It wasn't everyday that he got to see his senpai looking like he'd survived a typhoon. "Why do you look like that?"

Kuramochi blushed a bit, recalling the events of that morning in his room, when Masuko was out, while he was supposed to have been getting dressed for school. "Ryou-san and I got a bit carried away - wait, why the fuck am I even telling you this!? Also, I should test out that new wrestling move on you, for telling Miyuki that I had a bad case of gas!"

Eijun took a step back, holding his hands out and waving them around. "Wait! I need to know where Miyuki's classroom is at -" Kuramochi merely grabbed the first year by his shirt and proceeded to drag him down the hallway in the direction of Kazuya's classroom.

Kuramochi let him go once they were standing in the entrance way to the classroom. Scanning the room, Kuramochi pointed his finger over to where Kazuya was sitting in the far back of the room, near the open window.

Kazuya looked terrible; his hair was a mess, his uniform wrinkled up, and his mood seemed to be downright depressed.

"Hey Miyuki, I found something that'll cheer you up!"

He could make a run for it, but Kuramochi would catch him before he even made it down the hallway.

Kazuya stopped reading the score-book that he had out on his desk and looked over towards the doorway where Kuramochi had called out to him. He wasn't in the mood for the shortstop's antics today.

Once he saw a certain brunet standing next to Kuramochi, he got up from his seat and slowly walked over towards the entrance way. Eijun was sure that he was going to get an earful or shoved up against the wall, but none of that happened.

Eijun noticed the redness in the catcher's eyes behind his glasses and instantly croaked out an apology. "I'm really sorry for what I said to you at practice...I didn't mean it, honestly. I was just frustrated."

Kazuya stayed silent.

"W-well, I'll be going now -" Eijun was stopped by Kazuya's hand reaching out to clutch the back of his navy-colored blazer. "Eijun...will you listen to me rant when we get back our dorm?"

Eijun had no other choice. He wanted to make Kazuya feel better, so if it meant listening to him rant, then so be it. "Of course, Miyuki!"

While it may not have meant much to anyone else, Kazuya's spirits were lifted a bit.

Eijun was jittery all class period and as the final bell for school rang, he was out off the door before anyone else. Running with the tire had it's benefits; he was able to run to the dorms as fast as his legs could could take him.

Kazuya wasn't back yet, so Eijun decided to start on his homework. While he wasn't the best student there was, he at least tried his best to complete his homework and turn it in on time.

After about ten minutes, the door to the room opened and Kazuya came in. "Welcome back, Miyuki." The catcher didn't seem to hear him as he collapsed onto his bed face first with a sigh. Eijun turned around in the chair worriedly. "Miyuki, are you alright?"

"It's Kazuya. I'm fine, just a bit tired." His muffled voice sounded from the pillow. Eijun got up from the desk and made his way over to the catchers bed, sitting down on the end of it.

"So...what did you want to talk about?" Kazuya lifted his up head from the pillow to talk normally to Eijun. "Hmmm...it's more like a rant, but I hope that you're ready for it."

Eijun shrugged his shoulders. They had plenty of time due to no afternoon practice, so if it took all day, he would still be there for the other male. "If it'll make you feel any better, go for it."

Kazuya sighed, sitting upright and turning his body around to face Eijun. "My dad is an asshole. During my first year here, he told me that I was making a fool out of myself for hanging out with Kuramochi, saying that someone like me shouldn't be friends with a delinquent like him."

Kazuya's hands balled up into fists. Just thinking about his father made his blood boil. "He came to one of my games and when he found out that most of the baseball team members were gay, he started spouting out nonsense like how it was a sin, how they were going to hell, and some other shit."

Kazuya gripped the pillow in his hands as tight as he could, causing his knuckles to turn white. "Eijun, my dad is a homophobic asshole who will disown me if he finds out that I'm gay and I don't know what I'll do when he does find out about it..."

Eijun could only listen silently, wanting nothing more than to reach out to the catcher and comfort him with a hug.

"My mom and dad have been divorced since I was three, so I have to put up with him. I'm a terrible person; I'm probably worse than my dad in the ways that I deal with my problems." Eijun knew he was hinting at the cutting, but that's as much as he could get out of Kazuya as confessing to being a cutter at the moment.

He watched as the catcher took off his glasses to rub his eyes, and felt his fingers itch to pull Kazuya into his arms and reassure him that it was alright and that if things did end with his father disowning him, he could come stay with him and his family in Nagano. But he didn't, he sat there silently, and tried to avoid opening his mouth and hurting the older male even more.

"Miyuki...do you want to be left alone...? If so, I'll leave the room and come back when you feel better..."

"Yeah...come back a bit later."

Eijun was worried sick about Kazuya; his thoughts were a jumbled up mess full of the worst possibilities he could think of. 'What if he tries to cut himself? What if he tries to kill himself? What if he hates me and is kicking me out of the room? What if-'

His thoughts were interrupted as Haruichi called out to him from in front of Furuya's room, probably waiting for the raven-haired pitcher to return from the idnoor training area. "Are you aright, Eijun-kun?" He shrugged, unsure of how he could answer Haruichi back when he didn't have a clue on how he was feeling. "Yes and no. I apologized to Miyuki, but I'm not sure if he accepted it or not...but I did find something out about him, Harucchi."

The pitcher scanned around to make sure there wasn't anyone lurking around and eavesdropping in on their conversation. Leaning in closer to Haruichi, Eijun whispered low enough so only they could hear. "Miyuki is afraid of his father...he says that he's scared of telling his father that he's gay because his father is homophobic...but it doesn't explain why he's so depressed though."

Haruichi took Eijun's hands in his own, giving them a gentle squeeze. Haruichi had learned that if he took either Eijun or Furuya's hands into his own and squeezed them, they could tell each other anything. "Eijun-kun, I think Miyuki-senpai might have been called by his father earlier this morning." Eijun stared at him, eyes widening a bit at the thought of what Kazuya's asshole of a father could even want from him so early in the morning. "What do you mean?"

Haruichi squeezed his hands a bit harder, almost as if he were scared to let the pitcher know what he'd heard. He took a deep breath in before he began his next sentence. "We were woken up by yelling and cursing at four in the morning...and Zono decided to go take a look and found out that it was Miyuki-senpai..."

Eijun wasn't liking where this conversation was headed. Gulping a bit, he squeezed Haruichi's hands more firmly to let him know that it was okay to go on. "He said that Miyuki-senpai looked terrified, like he'd just woken up from a nightmare. I think...his father might have called him to tell him something important."

"But...why? Why does someone like him even deserve to be treated this way by his own father!?"

Haruichi let go of Eijun's hands and pulled him into a comforting hug. "Not everyone has supportive parents, Eijun." He murmured into the pitcher's chest.

Eijun held onto Haruichi's smaller frame tightly, afraid that if he let go, the smaller would be gone. "What about you, Harucchi?" Haruichi smiled at the question. He knew that he and Ryousuke were extremely lucky to have such an amazing family. "My family is very supportive of Aniki and I. What about yours, Eijun-kun?" Eijun had no idea really, it wasn't like he had ever found someone that could put up with him.

"I guess that they're supportive, I dunno. I haven't really found anyone who actually wants to be with me that won't take my mind off of baseball." Haruichi chuckled, breaking their hug. "Do you feel any better?" Eijun admitted, he did feel better by talking to Haruichi.

"Why don't you go and stay by Miyuki-senpai's side until he's feeling better?" Eijun paused, he'd almost forgotten about Kazuya.

"Oh shit...what if he tries to do that again...I'll see you around, Harucchi!"

Haruichi could only watch and wave as the pitcher took off.

"I just hope Eijun-kun realizes that there is someone like that who wants to be with him..."

Eijun ran back to Kazuya's dorm at full speed nearly crashing into people as he did so. But he didn't care; he wasn't going to slow down until he made sure that Kazuya was alright. Once he reached the dorm, he pounded on the door as hard and loudly as he could with his fist.

Kazuya opened the door hastily, unsure of what was going on. Eijun standing at the door, completely out of breath, didn't lessen Kazuya's worry any bit. Before he had time to react, the pitcher had pulled him into a bear hug. The catcher was stunned by this, but hugged the pitcher back.

"I'm so sorry..." Eijun murmured, causing the catcher to smile slightly. Running his fingers through Eijun's soft hair, Kazuya whispered, "It's okay, really."

A silence fell among them as they stood in the doorway, unsure of what else to say to each other.

"So...Youichi told me that he didn't have a bad case of gas."

Eijun blanched, figuring he was caught red-handed in the act of lying.

"Oh...really? What a surprise..." He mumbled, trying not to sound too suspicious.

"But...since the whole team knows about it, it makes sense that he's trying to deny it." A smirk formed on his face and a light chuckle escaped his lips as he thought back to Kuramochi's reaction.

"Miyuki, you're one twisted person, ya know?" There was a shrug from the catcher,"It's Kazuya, and I'll take that as a compliment since I've heard that before."

Eijun pouted. "How many times are you going to keep correcting me?" Kazuya laughed, ruffling up his hair. "Until you get it right."

Something sparked inside of Eijun's head. "I don't see you correcting anyone else, so why do you want me to call you Kazuya so bad?"

Kazuya paused, thinking about what the pitcher had just said. "Good point, Eijun. I'll make sure to drop a note to Youichi and the others about being on a first name basis."

The catcher snickered as he thought of an amazing idea. "When you see Kuramochi again, call him Youichi-senpai. I want to capture his expression on camera."

Eijun scowled in response. "Aren't you two supposed to be best friends?" Kazuya grinned and nodded at him. Of course Kuramochi was his best friend, but they weren't best friends without teasing and joking about one another. "Of course, but Youichi's really fun to mess with."

Upon entering the room, Eijun fumbled with yet another apology. "Miyuki...I'm sorry for what I said back there, so..." Kazuya sighed, he'd already forgiven Eijun and yet there he was again apologizing to him. It was rather cute to see Eijun like that, though. "It's fine, I'm sorry as well. I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you, Eijun."

Eijun opened his mouth to say something, but Kazuya stopped him. "Don't worry, I forgave you after Youichi talked some sense into me after you left."

"What did he say?"

Kazuya smirked and shook his head, holding a finger up to his lips. "It's a secret, but I'm sure that you'll figure it out sooner or later, Eijun~"

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Hahaha~"

"You shitty four eyed catcher! I regret apologizing to you!"

"The look on your face when you apologized said otherwise!"

"Shut up!"

There was a loud knock at the door and Kazuya looked at Eijun with a smug look in his face. "Go answer the door." The pitcher gaped, taken aback by what the catcher had just demanded of him. "Why me!? It's your room!" Kazuya smirked and sat down on the bed. "But you're my roommate for the time being." Eijun glared at the catcher defeated, and stumbled over towards the door yelling,"Fine!"

Opening the door, the two were greeted with the sight of a very agitated Kuramochi. "You two are noisier together than when you're by yourself, Sawamura."

Eijun scowled at his roommate. Kuramochi lived on the first floor, there was no way he could hear them from all the way down there. He didn't even live under them, either. "You can't hear us!"

"Oh really? "You shitty four eyed catcher! I regret apologizing to you!" "The look on your face when you apologized said otherwise!" "Shut up!" Sound familiar?"

Eijun felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment and turned to see the catcher doubled over on his bed laughing hysterically, tears streaming down his cheeks in the process. "Oh, my God, Youichi, do it again, that's hilarious! Eijun's voice was spot on!"

"Since when were we ever on a first name basis!?" Kazuya smirked at him as he managed to compose himself. "Since today! You can thank Eijun for that."

Eijun backed up a little from the shortstop and closer towards the catcher. While Kazuya was a twisted person, he still felt safer being near him than Kuramochi. "Why me!?"

Kuramochi felt his eyebrows twitch in agitation, once more. He had had enough of their mutual antics. "Kazuya, you and Sawamura seriously need to stop flirting and just get together already."

"Did you hear that, Eijun! Youichi calls me Kazuya, so why don't you!?"

Eijun groaned loudly. He wasn't ever going to hear the end of the first name basis thing from Kazuya. "It doesn't matter whether I call you by your first or last name, just as long as you know that I'm talking to you!"

"To answer your question Youichi, sometime in the near future~" Eijun gaped at the catcher's statement and frantically shook his head. "There's no way in hell that I would ever date someone like you!"

"We'll see about that, Eijun~"

Night time had fallen quickly and it was time for the two to turn in for bed.

"Goodnight, Eijun~" Kazuya called out, smiling widely at the pitcher across from him.

"Goodnight to you too, Miyuki."

Eijun turned over onto his side to sleep, however...

"Are you still awake, Eijun?"

"Yeah...no thanks to you."

"I'll let you call me Miyuki, but on one condition."

Eijun frowned and turned over to face the catcher. "What's that?"

"Stay here with me for a while."

"Why?"

Kazuya smiled at him.

"You make things interesting around here."

"Why don't you come and stay with me in my room?"

A light chuckle escaped the catcher's lips.

"Youichi has a bad case of gas, remember?"

The two laughed at what the catcher had said.

"Eijun?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks. I've been in need of a good laugh all day."

Eijun wouldn't admit it out loud, but part of him was glad to see that the catcher was feeling better.

They still had a long road ahead of them though...

And that concludes chapter 2~

Miyuki's father may make a debut - and cause one hell of a scene - in a later chapter!

Please R&R~

~Katie :3