FROM HERE ON OUT, THIS STORY WILL HAVE MAJOR SPOILERS FROM BOTH THE TRANSLATED AND UNTRANSLATED CHAPTERS FROM THE MANGA; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Hey everyone~ I got some positive feedback on the last chapter. :) I'll try to keep the fluffiness in for just a few more chapters...that's when the major turning points start to happen in the story.

Anywho, here is the next chapter for awhile. I'm going back to school and can't stay up late to write like I squally do. :(

But no worries~ I'll update this as much as I can. :) I have most of the future chapters planned out already, they're just not written down. ;3

Chapter 7: Acheivement

The crowd cheered loudly in the stands for Seido to be victorious in their game.

Eijun stood in the batters box, bat in hand, ready to swing at any given second. He'd gotten two strikes already; if he missed this one, he'd never get to bring Kazuya back home.

Sweat accumulated on his brow as he stood in the hot sun, gripping the bat as best he could. Eijun took a deep breath as he remembered the words Kazuya had told him prior before the game.

"If you can hit at least one pitch during one of our games, I'll prove to you just how much you cross my mind on a daily basis."

'I really hope Miyuki is ready for the outcome. I'm not so sure I can do this under so much pressure...'

It was the final inning and Seido only needed one more point to take the lead. When the pitcher and catcher agreed upon what pitch would be thrown, Eijun gripped the bat even harder for dear life and watched as the pitcher took up his pitching form and then released the ball from his hand.

It was a simple fastball.

As the ball moved closer and closer towards him, Eijun swung and with a loud clank, he'd a hit the ball straight into the outfield. Eijun instinctively dropped the bat he was holding prior to the hit and hastily dashed towards first base.

He'd made it to first base just before the ball hit the first baseman's glove, sending cheers throughout the stadium.

As Eijun looked towards the dugout Kazuya grinned at him; he proud of Eijun's achievement. Eijun grinned back at the catcher and waited for the next batter up to help send him to second or third base.

Seido was victorious in the end by two points. Eijun had just finished up changing into his regular clothing when Kazuya pulled him into a warm embrace. "I'm so proud of you, Eijun. I have a really special reward for you~ Go to your room and check out your bed."

Kazuya lightly kissed Eijun's cheek before he let go of the pitcher, watching how Eijun's face turned slightly red as he exited the locker room.

Eijun couldn't stop thinking about what Kazuya's surprise could be as he walked back to the dorm he now just shared with just Kuramochi, as Masuko had moved out. Kazuya was permitted to come and go from their dorm as he pleased, often angering Kuramochi.

Eijun unlocked the door and stepped inside the cool dorm room. He made a beeline straight for his bed where he found something thick and rectangular wrapped up in baseball themed wrapping paper.

Eijun carefully tore off the paper and his eyes widened as he stared at what the gift was; the complete set of one his favorite Shoujo manga's: Absolute Boyfriend. There was note on the box addressed to him from Kazuya, he carefully tore it off and began to read what Kazuya had written for him.

Hello, Ei-chan~

If you've received this present then it means that you have accomplished that goal of hitting a pitch. This is a little present that I bought to show you just how much I love and think about you on a daily basis~ Enjoy the gift, Eijun; you deserve it.

Love from your wonderful, talented, amazing, boyfriend, Miyuki Kazuya~

Eijun stared at the note in his hands and felt the tears slowly drip down from the corner of his eyes, dropping onto the note and wetting the paper with big splotches.

Eijun turned his attention over towards the door where Kazuya was standing, smiling at the pitchers reaction to the gift. "I hope those are tears of joy, Eijun." Eijun was speechless at the gift that he'd received from Kazuya, nearly pinching his cheek to make sure that this wasn't a dream he was having.

"You...You bought this just for me?" Kazuya's smile widened as he walked over towards the astonished pitcher and gently wiped the tears from Eijun's eyes. "Of course. There's never a time of day where you don't cross my mind."

Eijun's tears streamed down his face, a bit of snot running out of his nose, as he hugged the catcher as tightly as he possibly could. "Thank you so much."

Kazuya hugged Eijun back and smiled to himself, relieved that Eijun loved the gift he'd received. Kazuya had been extremely paranoid about what manga series he'd picked out; Eijun was a guy, but he loved to read Shoujo manga.

As Eijun piled down onto his bed to read the series from beginning to end, Kazuya started on his homework at the desk. Kazuya had always excelled in school, often being asked by his classmates to help them out. They never liked him too much, since he often refused to help them. Even if he helped them, their scores would always stay the same.

Middle school was always a rough time for him, before he'd met Mei, he had been constantly bullied by the other students. They'd call him every name they could think of, often combining words together, and would often get very violent with him if he retorted.

His father never cared about his dirty appearance or the bruises and scars on his body...no, all his father ever cared about was his work and having Kazuya live up to the Miyuki name.

Whenever Kazuya had come home in tears from the extent if the bullying he'd received, it always lead up to his father scowling at him and yelling at him about how disappointed he was to have a crybaby like Kazuya as a son.

Kazuya gripped the pencil in his right hand tighter and grimaced as the painful memories slowly flooded back into his mind.

His body shook with rage as he tried to block out all of the horrific memories that replayed over and over on a never ending loop. Kazuya lost his grip on the pencil he was holding, letting it slide off the desk and down on to the floor beside it.

Kazuya tried to cease the headache he was getting by rubbing his temples, but it was useless; he would never be able to make the memories vanish.

Eijun looked up from his manga and was startled by the sight of Kazuya losing his cool. "Miyuki, are you alright?" There was no answer. Eijun got up from his bed and slowly walked over towards Kazuya.

The sight he was greeted with was painful to see; here was Seido's genuine catcher crumbling apart in front of him. Eijun was unable to get a response from Kazuya as he asked the question once more.

"Dad is gonna do a lot more than just yell and call me a "worthless son" when he finds out that I've been lying to him this whole time..."

Eijun had never been in such a predicament before in his life. He was clueless on what he should do to help. "Miyuki, come on...what's wrong, tell me!"

Eijun was unable to get any type of response from Kazuya as he struggled to make sense of what was going on with the catcher.

The door opened up and in walked a freshly showered Kuramochi. As he looked at the scene between the two, he frowned, scrunched up his brow, and walked over to see what they were up to.

"Kuramochi-senpai, please help me!" Eijun pleaded, desperate for any advice on how to deal with this issue.

"Smack him, Sawamura." Was the short response he'd received from Kuramochi. "W-What?" Eijun was unsure of it he'd heard that right or not. "You heard me, Sawamura. Just smack Kazuya back into his senses."

Eijun gulped as he raised his hand and hoped that Kazuya wouldn't hate him for this. His hand collided with Kazuya's cheek harshly, snapping the catcher out of his delirious state.

"Miyuki, get to bed." Kuramochi ordered as Kazuya finally came back to his senses. Kazuya opened his mouth to retort, but quickly shut it when he saw the harsh gaze Kuramochi was giving him and complied with his order.

Eijun was pulled out of the room by Kuramochi, who'd left the door cracked open a bit to monitor Kazuya, just in case he decided to do something stupid.

"It seems like you've just experienced first hand how Kazuya is affected when he thinks back to his middle school days." Eijun was extremely worried about Kazuya; he wanted nothing more than to go back inside and huddle up under the covers with him.

"Since you're his boyfriend, he should be the one to tell you everything. But I'll just fill you in on the little things he's told me; Kazuya was bullied and tormented by his classmates back in middle school. I'm pretty glad that he didn't give me any names, I'd personally see to it that they'd get a very painful punishment."

Eijun leaned against the wall and tried to take in everything he'd just now learned about Kazuya. The thought of someone hurting Kazuya just didn't sound right to him at all. "Kuramochi-senpai...how long does it take to help a person who's never been shown unconditional love before?"

"It all depends on whether or the person will accept that type of love, Sawamura."

Eijun tossed and he turned, but he was unable to find any position he was in comfortable. Kazuya had long since fallen asleep next to him, exhausted from the days events. Eijun gently brushed Kazuya's bangs back from out of his face, causing the catcher to stir awake. "Ah, I'm sorry, Miyuki. Did I wake you up?" Eijun whispered, trying not to wake Kuramochi up.

"No, you're fine." Kazuya yawned, burying his face deeper into the pitchers chest. "You smell really good; kinda like pine and mint combined."

Eijun sighed deeply, finding it hard to fall asleep. The game had worn him out since he'd pitched for four innings, but the trouble he had in falling asleep came from his unwavering worry for Kazuya. He'd never seen the catcher so broken by something that had happened in the past.

"Miyuki, do you wanna take a walk with me around campus?" Kazuya groaned softly, rolling over onto his back to stare blearily at the bottom of Kuramochi's bunk. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep, since they did have morning practice in roughly about six hours, but there was no way he could say no to Eijun or let him wander around campus all alone while it was still dark outside.

"Are you having trouble falling asleep or something, Eijun?" Eijun nodded as he sat up from the bed and rubbed his eyes from sleep. He stood up from the bed and pulled on a pair of gray sweatpants. Kazuya yawned and shifted over towards the edge of the bed and sat up, grabbing his glasses from off the huge stack of manga's Eijun had beside the bed and placed them on his face.

Kazuya slowly stood up and stretched a bit, a big yawn coming from his mouth. Kazuya pulled on his black sweatpants and a red hoodie. The air had gotten much cooler than it had been during the summer; fall was slowly approaching them.

They slipped on their shoes and stepped out into the cool air. Kazuya shivered a bit from the coolness as the cool wind blew, thankful that he had put his hoodie on. As much as he loved Eijun, he had some nerve to drag him out of the nice, warm, bed and out into the cold, beginning of fall, air.

"So...are we just gonna walk around like we're creepy stalkers, or are we going sit down somewhere and talk about what's bothering you?" Kazuya was always grouchy when he was woken up too early. Eijun may be his boyfriend, but there were no exceptions at Eijun waking him up from his peaceful slumber.

"Um...how about we walk and talk?" Eijun murmured, rubbing his arms that had goosebumps on them from being out in the cool air. Kazuya groaned loudly as he walked alongside Eijun.

"Did you have a rough time in middle school, Miyuki?" Eijun whispered so lowly that Kazuya almost didn't hear him. Kazuya processed the question in his head, debating on whether he should let Eijun know about his rough middle school days.

"Yeah, but that's all in the past now." Eijun scowled at the catchers answer. Kazuya was hiding more than what he'd let on; Kazuya's lies were starting to make Eijun feel less worthy of being with him.

"Cut the crap, Miyuki. Why are you-" before Eijun could finish his sentence, the cold wind blew a bit harder, causing Eijun to shiver from being in just a light T-shirt. Kazuya merely smirked at him, ignoring his last statement. "Are you cold, Eijun?" Eijun blushed and turned his head to turn away from the catcher, embarrassed that Kazuya had noticed him shivering against the harsh, cold, wind.

"No, I'm fine. It's just a bit chilly." Kazuya removed his hoodie and handed it to Eijun. "Here, put this on. It'll keep you warm." Eijun bit his lip as he looked from the red hoodie over towards Kazuya's face.

Eijun was about to give the hoodie back to Kazuya when the harsh wind blew again. Eijun scowled, took the hoodie from Kazuya and pulled it over his head, providing him with warmth.

Kazuya may be an absolute ass from time to time, but he was still a very considerate person when it came to Eijun.

Eijun split up from Kazuya to go stand with all of the other first years at morning practice. He had hardly gotten any sleep the night before and was already starting to fall asleep on his feet. It was August third; the fight for starting positions had only since begun now that the third years had retired.

All of the remaining fifty nine members - made up of first and second years - had gathered on the field awaiting the coach's announcement. Coach Kataoka stood in front of them, ready to start his big announcement. Eijun had a feeling deep within his gut that the news Coach Kataoka was about to deliver would sink into their minds forever.

Coach Kataoka stared at the players and cleared his throat; the announcement was now beginning. "I know that you all have learned much and grew here at Seido, but there is no generation that can match the growth of the retired third years. Even during practice, every single one of them kept their spirits high and their eyes on the ball; that is how they became so strong."

The silence amongst the crowd was inhumane, it was as if someone had muted them completely. Not a single breath could be heard from any of them as they listened to coach Kataoka respectfully.

"It is my fault as the coach for not letting them gather the rewards. None of you should ever forget the regrets of that loss."

The crowd managed to find their voices to shout out a,"Yes, sir!" that echoed throughout the entire field.

"Now, let's have a few words from your new captain." Eijun held his breath as he watched Kazuya come out from the crowd of second years and run to the front to face them all. Their eyes locked with one another's for just a moment before Kazuya broke their gaze to focus on everyone else.

"Um...well...to be completely honest...I'm still shocked, but...anyways, a word..." Kazuya had become a completely different person as he begun to have more confidence in addressing the crowd.

"I know for a fact that I probably won't ever forget the outcome of that final game for as long as I live. I know that we are inexperienced and that each and every one of our opponents are strong. For the first time, I feel that baseball truly is frightening when you don't know what will happen next or what small error could ruin our chances of winning and going to Koshien."

Eijun had never heard Kazuya speak in such a way before, it was almost frightening that he could be this way.

"While I do feel sorry the third years who have now retired, we still have another year left to get our revenge for that loss. If we're going to be doing it, I want the results to matter the most..."

Kazuya paused for a moment, looking at each of the members carefully. "I want us to be ravenous for victory until the very end, understood?"

Everyone fell silent as they proceeded what had just been told to them by their newly appointed captain. Kazuya's next words were a big shocker for them, however. "Now, I intend to say everything I want to, so please prepare yourselves."

After practice ended, Kazuya took his usual spot on the bed next to Eijun, who was busy reading his Shoujo manga. "So, how'd I do?" Kazuya asked with a wide smirk, eyeing the pitcher for his answer. "It wasn't bad, but you could have been much louder."

Kazuya lightly bonked Eijun's head,"Oh, shut it, you." Kazuya picked up one if the Shoujo manga's and stared at it curiously.

"Ya know, when I bought the series set for you, the cashier asked me if it was for my girlfriend, since I don't appear to be the type to read Shoujo manga, and you know what happened?" Eijun student answer, his eyes remained focused on the manga he was trying to read.

"I smiled and said that they were for my boyfriend." Eijun could feel his cheeks get warm from Kazuya's statement; Kazuya was just something else entirely.

"Are these any good?" Eijun gaped at him, almost offended by the question he'd just been asked. "They're actually pretty amazing, believe it or not." Kazuya flipped through the pages and turned it over to read the backside of it.

"Damn, these are so cliché, Eijun. No wonder you read them."

Practice went by smoothly the next few weeks; Kazuya pushing them to the limit as the new captain.

"Alright, it's time for a lunch break!"

Everyone sighed with relief as Kazuya decided that it was time for lunch, they'd been working until it was pitch dark outside, resting only for a few short minutes.

Kazuya turned to look at a sweaty Eijun, smirking as he wrapped an arm around the pitchers shoulders. "How's practice treating you, Eijun?" Eijun scowled and attempted to pull Kazuya's arm off his shoulders. Even at practice, Kazuya was so damn affectionate towards him, often leading to their teammates teasing them about it.

"It's fine, Miyuki. Now get your damn arm off of me." Kazuya pouted a bit, but retreated his arm from off the moody pitchers shoulders. "You're so moody today, Eijun. But, I still love you~" Kazuya gave Eijun a chaste kiss on the cheek before waving goodbye to go join Kuramochi and Maezono.

Eijun rolled his eyes as he walked over to where Haruichi and Furuya were standing in the shade. Haruichi handed Furuya a towel to wipe off the excessive sweat that dripped down his face. "C'mon, Satoru-kun. We'll get you a glass of ice water when we get inside the building."

As the three walked the short distance to the cafeteria - Furuya's complaints of "I'm melting" being ignored by Eijun - a gruff voice called out to them. "Hey, you. What time does your practice end today?" The chubby man asked them as he thoroughly examined each of the players with his keen eyes.

"Miyuki told me that it's ending around six." Eijun replied, raising a brow at the man suspiciously. Furuya and Haruichi exchanged glances with one another and shrugged, unsure of why the man had asked such a question.

"From nine in the morning? That's a pretty long time. To be honest, isn't it tough?" The man asked, surprised by Eijun's answer.

Eijun merely shrugged his shoulders, completely unbothered by the amount of practice they'd been doing the past few months. "Of course it's long. We practice long and hard because we don't want to lose; we won't say that it's too hard, too tough, or too hot out, we just deal with it." Eijun exclaimed with a huge grin spreading across his face.

As the three turned to leave, the man spoke up yet again. "It's like you're practicing just to lose...sweating and putting in effort everyday, should I say that it's great...or something else?"

As the man started to sprout out nonsense about how athletes were extreme masochists and narcissists, Eijun could feel his blood start to boil, resisting the urge to lash out at the man as Haruichi pulled him away.

"Gah, what's with that old geezer anyways!? He talks so nasty." Eijun growled, he regretted not going with Kazuya when he had the chance. His mood had just took a complete turn from elated to infuriated when they talked to the man.

Haruichi tried to calm him down as they walked towards the cafeteria entrance way. "Calm down, Eijun-kun. Some people are just like that."

As they opened the door, they had expected to be greeted with the sight of the baseball team members devouring their food at the tables, but instead...they were greeted with them standing around near coach Kataoka.

Murmurs from the crowd arose, catching the three freshmen's ears as they stepped inside. "A new coach...?" Eijun thought his ears had been deceiving him as he heard the words. He tapped Kanemaru on the shoulder and asked,"What's going on here?"

Kanemaru rolled his eyes as he explained the situation to the three who'd just walked in. "Huh? We're getting a new coach." Eijun's eyes widened and his mind blanked out as he tuned out the world, unable to believe that this was true.

"The whole team needs to improve during summer break. Challenge yourselves with problems you face individually until the fall championship!"

The yells of,"Yes, sir!" echoed throughout the entire room. None of them could have imagined that coach Kataoka would ever be resigning from Seido.

Kazuya stared at the homework on the desk, trying to concentrate on it but always found himself thinking back to what coach Kataoka had said.

"Eijun, what do you think our new coach is gonna be like?" Kazuya asked as he leaned back in the chair to get a glimpse of the pitcher. Eijun had been silent since they found out coach Kataoka would be resigning. Eijun looked up at him and back down towards the manga that he had been rereading, trying to take his thoughts off of the man he'd encountered during their lunch break and coach Kataoka resigning.

"I don't know..." was the simple response Eijun had given him, obviously not up for talking. Kazuya sighed and set aside his homework to roll the chair from the desk, over towards the side of Eijun's bunk.

"Did something happen today? Did anyone say anything out of place to you?" Kazuya's tone was low and aggressive, catching Eijun off guard.

"Um...well...today when we were leaving for our lunch break...me, Harucchi, and Furuya ran into some old geezer who basically told us that we were wasting our time practicing just to lose again...and then Boss said that he was resigning..." Eijun trailed off, hoping Kazuya would leave him be.

"You're scared that if coach Kataoka leaves then we'll be stuck with some coach who isn't as good as Kataoka." Kazuya climbed off the chair and sat down on the bed next to Eijun, pulling him closer towards him,

"Whatever happens Eijun, just know that we'll get through it together."

Eijun could only hope so.

And concludes chapter 7~ ^_^

Notes~

Kazuya suffers from depression and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder.). From his father being a complete asshole towards him and from his middle school days.