A/N- RinRin: Sawamura practices for his confession to Miyuki through Chris and Miyuki accidentally stumbles upon said confession and gets the wrong idea. PLS N THX!~ ^o^
Ok. I TRIED RINA, I TRIED. I really did *SWEATS*. This wasn't a request through tumblr, nor do I have it posted on there. It was something a friend asked for and I figured why not. This is only going to be posted here. I stopped using tumblr a few years ago and I'm simply self indulging in writing again after a long hiatus. So please bear with me. I'm rusty and I'm trying to get into the groove of things again. Off to the Miyusawa cliche misunderstandings!~
"I l-like you! So I—I'd appreciate it if you accepted my confession, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" With a small bow and rosy cheeks, Sawamura thinks that he might have pulled it off that time.
Chris simply watches with that warm fondness in his eyes, that same damn fondness that Miyuki can't help but have for the boy too. The boy who's much too warm, much too loud, and much too honest for him. That same boy that's gradually growing into a radiant and reliable pitcher. He should have seen the scenario coming really, but how could he? A small part of him had a minuscule of hope that maybe—just maybe—Sawamura would be the one saying those words to him instead. Why get your hopes up? That sounds so uncharacteristic of him. He's used to hard cold facts, realistic outcomes, and it is a fact that Sawamura Eijun isn't into him. He's a snarky, smug bastard day in and day out and Sawamura's made it much too clear that he gets on his last nerve.
In comparison to Chris-senpai, there isn't much to compare to, is what Miyuki tells himself. Chris-senpai is much too kind with Sawamura. The gentle tones, the hair ruffles, the comforting pats, and even when he's scolding the boy—there's always a warm affection to his actions. Sawamura simply respects and adores the guy and he cannot find it within himself to blame either of them at all. Chris-senpai is an amazing individual, he knows that much, has always known. He's admired the guy since middle school. It does peeve him though, he can't help it, when Sawamura turns into a stupid ball of animated mush around Chris.
Yeah, there's no way he can even come close to that, Miyuki thinks bitterly and he unconsciously squeezes the bottle of Pocari Sweat in his pocket.
The last time he and Sawamura had even interacted, which was a while ago before he ran into the unfortunate scene next to his room, he couldn't help but tease the boy just a little over the vending machine stealing his money. Because, what were the chances that at that precise moment, Sawamura would be so unfortunate to have his coins stolen by a machine in his presence. It was like the world wanted to hand him the opportunity to either be Sawamura's saving grace or for the boy to be his usual target on a silver platter.
"The machine must not like you." Miyuki saunters over with obvious amusement on his face at seeing the boy frantically clicking multiple buttons and shaking the machine.
"AH, MIYUKI KAZUYA! Why must you be here now of all times?! Mind your own business!" Sawamura spits back with furrowed eyebrows, stopping his previous action of shaking the traitorous machine for stealing his money.
"I wanted a drink and this happens to be the nearest vending machine?" He explains casually.
Sawamura blinks a bit at the catcher, bites his bottom lip as if he was contemplating something, and simply says, "Fair enough."
"What? Is my presence that much of a bother to you?" Miyuki leans closer into Sawamura's space, giving him a small smirk, meeting his eyes confidently, challenging him almost. The boy falters a bit in whatever he was going to say next, because it looks like he's about to argue, which intrigues Miyuki because it looks like Sawamura is actually thinking of what to say next. He decides not to mention anything this time around, waiting on Sawamura's response. He expects the other to yell at him and admit that yes, he is a bother, but instead he gets a surprisingly soft answer of, "You know… I've been meaning to say this for a while now Miyuki-senpai—since you seem to think that I hate you or something, but I don't find your presence a bother. Sure, you're an annoying bastard and you can be pretty evil sometimes! I especially don't like it when you trick me into doing things for you, but I know that you have your way of showing you care about the team. You care in your own twisted way, and that's A-Okay in my book! You're weirdly likable like that! A weirdly reliable and likable captain! Yeah!"
Miyuki's heart is causing a ruckus and his mind begins to come up with multiple questions including the most obvious question of, "But, why?" which he finds himself unable to say out loud. He simply absorbs the moment of silence and continues staring at those honest and determined eyes. He feels like maybe it should be awkward to receive such honest praise, but he can't for the life of him feel that awkwardness. If anything, he feels relieved, happy, and even warm. Relieved because Sawamura admitted to not finding him a bother, happy because of how oddly accepting Sawamura always is, even with him, and warm because that boy really doesn't have a filter and the it makes him feel so giddy and tingly. He's staring at said boy for some good seconds with widened eyes and he still can't talk. He's just entranced by those sparkly happy golden eyes. Maybe he shouldn't challenge Sawamura to stare downs anymore because he feels utterly speechless and he's not used to being rendered useless. He's never been confronted like this before, being told so openly that is he a likable person, because if anything, he is used to quite the opposite reaction from people—from past teammates. The boy has a wide grin and a small blush on his cheeks, but that look always goes best with Sawamura, if Miyuki were to say so himself.
"Well! That was all I wanted to say, see ya later Miyuki-senpai!"
Sawamura abruptly runs off afterwards. A good minute passes and Miyuki finally snaps out of his reverie.
"Well, shit. This kid is definitely something else." Miyuki can't help but laugh to himself as he inserts his money into the machine. A random bottle of Pocari Sweat comes out along with his canned coffee and he stares down at the drinks in astonishment. He definitely laughs again as he snaps his canned coffee open to take a satisfying sip while he stuffs the bottle of Pocari Sweat in his sweat pants.
Thinking back to their interaction, Miyuki feels like an idiot waiting around for Sawamura and Chris to finish their lovey dovey scene.
The last thing Miyuki allows himself to witness is Chris lifting his hand up to gently ruffle the boy's hair and the look of pure adoration in Sawamura from his senpai's touch is just—okay, yeah, he definitely doesn't need to keep seeing that. He drags his feet away from the scene and concurs that he needs a bat as soon as possible, preferably to swing at the air for a good while since swinging bats at people or solid objects is clearly out of the question, at least until the love birds leave. He surely doesn't need to awkwardly appear and make himself obvious by ruining their sickeningly sweet moment, nor does he need Chris-senpai on his case after witnessing that scene.
"Sawamura." Chris removes his hand from the boy's hair.
"Yes, Chris-senpai?" Sawamura isn't sure what to expect but he notices his senpai's lips curving into a smile.
Chris chuckles a little to himself and Sawamura gapes at his senpai in slight surprise.
"AH! Why are you laughing at me?! Was it that funny?!"
"No, sorry—Well, actually, just a little." He admits and quickly composes himself. "Why don't you try being more like yourself? You sounded so formal and while I'd believe you to get nervous under these circumstances—I especially think that in Miyuki's case, he'd feel more awkward at being thanked. So instead of practicing with me, why don't you just tell him in your own way?"
Sawamura's lips form a small "o" and he nods enthusiastically taking mental notes. "Okay! I'll do that then! Even if I end up slipping on my words, I shall follow your words of wisdom Chris-senpai! Thank you for putting up with my selfish requests! Have a goodnight, senpai!"
Sawamura bows in gratitude and walks off waving happily to Chris.
Chris shakes his head with his usual fondness. "That boy."
—
Sawamura twists and turns in his bed that night, unable to let sleep take him. He hears a threatening growl coming from above and earns a smack from a pillow.
"Oi, go the fuck to sleep already! We trained all day and even did intrasquad practice games. How do you still have leftover energy?" Kuramochi says, with clear irritation in his voice.
Sawamura mumbles a quick, "Sorry senpai. I'll sleep."
He flops over on his stomach and tries to calm his nerves, tries to stop thinking about a certain stupidly good looking catcher with a shit eating grin and an even shittier personality than anyone he's ever known. He likes to think that the only reason Miyuki Kazuya occupies his thoughts so much is because he hasn't confessed but he knows that even if he confesses and by some miracle the catcher accepts his feelings—he just knows he'll still have all this restless energy, if not more and knows that it'd be even more of a reason to have him on his mind.
Sawamura has also thought of what would happen if he got rejected. While he doesn't like to be pessimistic, he isn't that stupid to not think of rejection, which is actually what he expects but he likes to think that maybe Miyuki might consider his feelings and give them a try. Rejection is a terrifying thing, but he trusts that Miyuki won't hurt him or lead him on. While the catcher can be blunt with his words, Sawamura knows he cares—cares about him. He just internally hopes he doesn't end up rejected and having to take Miyuki out of his every day thoughts.
—
Sawamura knows he's not the brightest when it comes to reading most people, but then again, Miyuki Kazuya doesn't classify as most people, but Sawamura knows—he just knows that something has been up with Miyuki these past few days. He's been way too serious lately. Sure, Miyuki is serious when baseball is involved, but Sawamura also knows that he'll playfully tease anyone and everyone on his team when the chance presents itself. Well, he's been oddly quiet and only speaks when spoken to—it's a bit eerie, really. All he gets during practice is a, "nice ball" and "good job" when he gets the pitch he asks for, but no shit eating grin, no stupid trademark smirks, no lingering touches, or even casual pats on his back, no snarky commentary towards his pitching and batting or even on how he has a long way to go before he can even become the ace and to not let the compliments get to his head—nothing of the sort and it actually worries Sawamura because it just sounds so automatic and Miyuki looks like he's just on autopilot these days.
So when the situation presents itself and he watches Miyuki put his gear away, he figures why not take a chance. He makes sure to approach him cautiously.
"Um, Miyuki-senpai, is everything okay?" Sawamura isn't sure if going the obvious route will work, but subtlety has never been his strong suit.
Miyuki has to actually do a double-take because he hadn't realized when Sawamura appeared behind him. Since when did the boy look so damn concerned about him? He must have been too distracted by his own thoughts and he mentally curses himself for it because he can't stand that look Sawamura is giving him—because, why is he bothering with him at all? He should be rushing off to go see Chris-senpai at his dorm seeing as graduation is right around the corner. He feels like anything he says at this point, almost anything that leaves his mouth, will drip with venom so he chooses to simply go the easy route and he spots Kuramochi immediately, perfect.
"Why wouldn't I be okay, Bakamura?" he sneers, and Sawamura is almost convinced except that Miyuki immediately calls for Kuramochi and leaves him with his own thoughts, not even bothering to really stick around.
Sawamura wonders when Miyuki started running away from his problems instead of facing them head on. Maybe he just doesn't really know Miyuki, but maybe he can get to know him more, maybe he can be that reassurance that—Sawamura doesn't know why, but he feels a bit stupid at being so hopeful and decides to not even finish that sentence in his mind.
So he tries again at dinner, but Miyuki ends up conveniently talking to Kuramochi the whole time and ignores his request to talk. He definitely knows that he's struck a cord and that Miyuki is being an idiot for some reason, so he decides that maybe his roommate might know.
—
"Kuramochi-senpai?" Sawamura calls for his roommate from his bed.
Kuramochi's too busy button mashing at his controller, deeply immersed in his game so Sawamura decides to be much louder.
"KURAMOCHI-SENPAI! I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU. I'D APPRECIATE IT IF YOU ANSWERED ME. I HAVE BEEN IGNORED ONE TOO MANY TIMES LATELY AND I HAVE FEELINGS TOO, YA KNOW!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP! I'LL ANSWER YOU RIGHT NOW! LET ME FINISH THIS ROUND!"
It takes another few minutes for Kuramochi to pause his game. He sighs and turns to glare at his idiot kohai.
"Alright, shoot you idiot. You better have a good reason to interrupt me during my free time."
Sawamura gulps, but continues on.
"I apologize for interrupting you! I—I," He feels like his words get stuck in his throat. Why is it hard to ask about Miyuki?
Kuramochi begins to feel impatient, tapping his foot against the carpet floor. "If you don't ask me what you want to know right at this second, I'm walking over to you and I'm going to kick your ass until you can't shit properly."
"PLEASE HAVE MERCY! I JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHY MIYUKI-SENPAI HAS BEEN IGNORING ME LATELY. DO YOU THINK HE'S HIDING SOMETHING?!"
Kuramochi blinks a bit, he is simply too stunned to even give a proper answer because this kid bothered him—made him pause his game—to ask about the shitty glasses?
"Hold up. You made me PAUSE my game, to ask about Miyuki fucking Kazuya? Holy shit! I don't care why he's been ignoring you! He's probably just fed up with you pestering him, kinda like how I am right now!"
Sawamura pouts and furrows his eyebrows. "But when I asked him if everything was okay, he just answered my question with another question and—I just—I know he's been avoiding me okay."
Kuramochi massages his temples and huffs. "You're more upset about this than I thought. Okay, let's just hypothetically say you're right. What do you want me to do about it?"
"Senpai! Talk to him for me, please and thank you!" Sawamura gets off his bed and lowers his head into a deep bow that Kuramochi thinks he's going to get on his knees at this point.
"What the—when the fuck did I say I'd—"
"—I like him, and I'm scared that he's figured it out without me even getting a chance to tell him." Sawamura murmurs with his head having reached the floor.
Kuramochi's jaw drops because, because Sawamura just admitted into liking Miyuki and he's being super serious about this and he sounds and looks scared. Oh hell no. No, no, no. This is not happening to him. He does not want to be dragged into this, no fucking—well shit, Sawamura is giving him that pitiful kicked puppy look.
He groans because he really must have been crappy in his past life to be paying for it in this life.
"You just had to fall for that shitty bastard! God dammit Sawamura! How stupid can you be?! You would have had a better time falling for Chris-senpai!" Kuramochi pulls at his hair. He really is going to kick Sawamura's ass in a few minutes and then he'll kick Miyuki's. He just needs to think of how he's going to approach the other idiot.
"I KNOW KURAMOCHI-SENPAI, I KNOW."
"Then why don't you try—"
"IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT SENPAI!"
"You're a fucking lost cause."
Kuramochi swears he hears a whimper from his moronic roommate but he stops looking into those stupid pitiful puppy-like eyes.
—
Okay, so they had a great game today, and Sawamura didn't give Miyuki shit either. They both played well on the field and Miyuki seems to be in a good mood too. The evening couldn't get any better. Alright, this is good, this is good, Kuromachi thinks this might be his chance. So he waits a good hour to walk over to Miyuki's room after dinner and knocks.
Miyuki answers with a towel over his head. Probably finished bathing, Kuramochi assumes.
"Eh? Kuramochi?" Miyuki steps out a little, obvious surprise in his features.
"Yo. I'm just going to be blunt here. I didn't want to say it with other people around earlier in the cafeteria."
Miyuki raises an eyebrow and Kuramochi can see the subtle way in which Miyuki tenses up.
"What is it?"
"Why are you ignoring Sawamura?"
Okay, so maybe Miyuki didn't expect Kuramochi to get involved. So maybe after seeing that confession scene with Sawamura and Chris-senpai he just wants alone time to mope and maybe he wants time to feel sorry for himself and move on—but no, he can't even get that without being pestered about his so called feelings.
He sighs. "Look, it's really none of your—"
"Actually, it kinda is." Kuramochi interrupts with a determined glare.
Miyuki doesn't lower his brow because he's utterly confused at when Kuramochi decided to be so persistent with this topic that has nothing to do with him.
"Please elaborate."
"He's my damn roommate and now that I actually think about it, you've been fishy as fuck." He points an accusing finger at Miyuki. "You've been interacting with me more so than usual and if I remember correctly, you tend to do it when Sawamura is bugging you about something. You don't even bother giving the kid a minute of your time anymore. I'm like your distraction from him. Don't try to deny it either, he told me you've been ignoring him and he won't shut up about it. I'm suffering because you're being a coward and you won't talk things out with him!"
Miyuki sighs. He actually expected Sawamura to come banging on his door this week, but he did not expect Kuramochi, of all people, to come confront him.
"If you're ignoring him because you're aware of his feelings for you then—"
Kuramochi immediately shuts up and doesn't finish his sentence because the look Miyuki gives him isn't his usual grin or smirk; it's a menacing cold glare that's simply telling him to shut the fuck up.
"What the fuck do you even know about his feelings? Did you even know that he's in love with Chris-senpai? Why would I even bother with that?"
Kuramochi feels like punching Miyuki, but he knows that wouldn't help the situation. He reminds himself to calm down because clearly Miyuki's ticked. "Chris-senpai? I mean… I guess I get why you'd think he's head over heels for Chris-senpai but he's not."
Miyuki completely ignores Kuramochi's statement and uncharacteristically raises his voice. "I saw him fucking confessing to the guy almost a week ago!" He runs his hand through his bangs and chuckles at his slip up, deciding to bring his tone back down. Jealousy is such an ugly feeling. He has no idea why some people find it romantic. It suffocates him—clouds his judgment—turns him into something he isn't. "This is so pathetic. I'm going to bed. Don't bother me with this pointless crap anymore, Kuramochi."
The door slams right in front of his face and Kuramochi vows to definitely kick Miyuki's ass later for making him feel stupid.
—
Sawamura stops pestering Miyuki, he stops asking if he's okay, and stops altogether talking to him unless they're on the field and absolutely have to communicate. His usual energy around him goes down and Miyuki tries to hold off on grimacing because he feels like this is his fault. Miyuki didn't think Sawamura would be so down over them not interacting outside of baseball. Maybe Kuramochi is right. Maybe Sawamura isn't in love with Chris. He hasn't seen them together since that night. It's very weird. He also expected to hear Sawamura announcing his feelings to the world along with his new relationship status because that's the type of person he is or at least he seems like he'd be. He's so transparent with his feelings that it actually hurts to know that he's the reason Sawamura looks so sad when they pass one another in the halls or when they're in the same damn room. At least Kuramochi hasn't bothered him at all since that night he confronted him, which he's thankful for.
He hears Sawamura yell from across the room to Haruichi and he almost sounds like his usual self—key word being, almost. "HARUCCHI! Play catch with me!"
Okay, so maybe Sawamura isn't asking Miyuki to catch for him either. So maybe they only really interact during games. It hasn't necessarily been effecting their practices, but...
"Eh? Again? Eijun-kun, I'm going to go practice with Maezono-senpai. I can't catch for you today."
"WHAT? BUT HARUCCHI—"
Haruichi walks away with his wooden bat.
"Hyahahah! You got ditched." Kuramochi snickers.
"KURAMOCHI-SENPAI, PLEASE CATCH FOR ME!"
Kuramochi swiftly kicks Sawamura and runs off denying the pitcher any of his time. Miyuki suddenly feels like he has eyes on him but as soon as he makes contact with gold—it quickly disappears. Kind of like when the sun decides to appear and tease you with its snug and glowy presence, but the clouds decide to take it back and you're suddenly missing those rays of warmth on your skin.
Miyuki wants to volunteer, he actually does, but it's just his luck—just his damn luck because Chris-senpai appears and because Miyuki's such a damn masochist, he looks over at Sawamura and his eyes sparkle, his eyes have all these little stars and his whole face is glowing, and anyone would think he just got the ace title at this point, but damn. Miyuki wishes he could get that reaction out of him sometimes.
He doesn't notice the questioning look Chris gives him when he walks off.
"CHRIS-SENPAI! THANK YOU FOR GRACING ME WITH YOUR PRESENCE! WILL YOU CATCH FOR ME PRETTY PLEASE?!" Sawamura lowers his head and Chris has to shake his head because really, this boy needs to stop doing this every time.
"Yes, Sawamura. Yes I can." Chris smiles at him and takes the glove his kohai offers him. "Just throw me a few and then I'd like to talk to you about something."
Sawamura wonders what his senpai has to say, so he doesn't argue and simply nods in agreement. It was already a rare thing for Chris to even show up. He knows how busy his senpai is with finals.
A good while passes between them and Chris tells Sawamura it's time to stop. As much as he enjoys getting unique change ups and cutters thrown at him—because Sawamura is continuously growing and he couldn't be prouder of him that it excites him—he actually didn't come by to catch for the boy. He's been hearing what's been going on through Kuramochi who actually came by the other night to talk to him, little did anyone know though, that he had been about to step out of his room that same night he heard Miyuki and Kuramochi arguing about Sawamura. Luckily, his roommates weren't around or it would have probably been a show. He thought Sawamura had already confessed but apparently Miyuki has been dodging the boy for a while now because the catcher, for some god forsaken reason, thinks Sawamura is in love with him. He internally groans because he knew "practicing" with him was going to end up backfiring on Sawamura. He had no clue that Miyuki had witnessed that embarrassing scene. While Miyuki and Sawamura don't make it too obvious, people who are closer to Sawamura than others have noticed the weird tension between the two.
"So senpai, what did you want to ask me?" Sawamura sits next to Chris on the nearby bench, kicking his feet at the air.
"Have you been able to talk with Miyuki at all?"
Sawamura comes to a halt, and frowns at Chris. "No, that bastard just decided to stop talking to me outside of the field. It makes me so FREAKIN' MAD, but also—also pretty disappointed… I thought he at least saw me as a bit more than just some teammate."
The thing about Sawamura is that no matter what, he always gives people he's close to the benefit of the doubt, and he's persistent and accepting—but the look Sawamura has is of utter defeat. He looks defeated, because Miyuki simply decided to cut ties. Chris feels a headache coming.
"Sawamura—I feel like I should let you know that you should probably talk to Miyuki about your feelings as soon as possible."
Sawamura gives a questioning look to his senpai. "What's going on, Chris-senpai?"
"He—he saw us that night you were "practicing" on me and he got the wrong idea."
"WHA—HOW—WHY?" Sawamura is staring wide eyed.
"I heard him say something about it when Kuramochi came by a few days ago to see Miyuki." He huffs. "And think about it for a bit, if you were in his shoes and saw him confess to someone else, but you had no clue it was fake—what would you assume?"
"I—I… I WOULDN'T AVOID HIM THOUGH! I'D STILL TRY TO TALK TO HIM! That—THAT PISSES ME OFF EVEN MORE! How dare he just make a decision for us both and cut me off?! AND WHY WOULD HE EVEN CARE IF I WERE CONFESSING TO YOU—OH." Sawamura completely stops fuming and just blankly stares at the floor in front of him.
How could he not notice?
Miyuki. Is. Jealous. Of. Chris-Senpai.
Chris would laugh at the completely dumbfounded expression on Sawamura's face if the situation itself wasn't so pitiful. For the first time in a long while he really does want to shake some sense into Miyuki.
—
So all this dancing around is making Sawamura's head spin. He has never been good at dancing, in any sense of the word. So he does what he does best and that's to just bug the crap out of Miyuki until he corners him into fessing up. Except Miyuki is being a true ninja and hiding from him this evening. After his conversation with Chris and his realization that Miyuki Kazuya probably feels the same way about him as he does—he couldn't sit still and he ran off apologizing and thanking Chris.
"WHERE IS THAT DAMN TANUKI! AHH, HE PISSES ME OFF!" Sawamura checks around the field, checks the cafeteria, checks around some classrooms that he's seen Miyuki linger around, and even goes to check at his dorm, but no trace of him. "That bastard is better at hiding than I thought."
It isn't until he hears two familiar voices in the distance near that vending machine—that traitorous vending machine that stole his money—that he realizes that Miyuki freakin' Kazuya is talking with Chris-senpai. He wants to go tackle Miyuki down, wants to demand what his fucking problem is, but he decides against it and just—eavesdrops because for some reason he just needs to know what they're saying.
"Good job on today's game against Oyua, Miyuki." Chris gives the catcher a small smile.
"Thanks, Chris-senpai."
"Sawamura's pitching was pretty consistent today, as well." Chris gives a knowing look to Miyuki.
Now, Miyuki feels like Chris is challenging him in a way, almost provoking him to say anything pertaining to Sawamura, or maybe he's testing the waters with the topic itself which is surprising. Not what Miyuki expects at all—pretty much a curve ball, but he can deal with this, just like he can with anything else.
Miyuki hums in response. "Yeah, he was decently consistent. He's turning into a reliable source. Coach really was proud of him."
"What about you? Aren't you proud of him?"
Miyuki wants to tsk in annoyance if it wasn't for the fact that this is Chris-senpai. Even if he doesn't really give a crap about how people view him, he still really respects the guy and has no ill feelings towards him.
Instead, he settles for chuckling, because it's so easy, so automatic, and so comfortable. It's what he knows. He knows how to play along for the most part.
"Of course I'm proud of our idiot pitcher, but I doubt my words of praise would even get to him. Not like yours, Chris-senpai~. The kid turns into absolute mush at your words, like a puppy." Miyuki playfully grins at Chris, because maybe he pushes a little with that comment, but he can't help it.
But when Miyuki finally makes eye contact with Chris again, there is no trace of embarrassment, or even fondness. Instead, he sees Chris give him a cunning smirk, which quickly fades the moment he blinks.
"I'm a little disappointed in you, Miyuki." He hears Chris sigh. "You completely disregard how easily your words turn Sawamura speechless. If I didn't know any better, you sound like you're sulking a bit. I can assure you that my praise doesn't have the lingering effect yours has on him."
"Huh?" Miyuki looks dumbfounded and now Chris really does laugh because despite the situation being pitiful, there's something so much more satisfying in seeing that look on Miyuki rather than on Sawamura. He thinks maybe it's because it is more uncharacteristic of Miyuki than it is of Sawamura.
"You really are clueless at how that boy looks at you." Chris chuckles one more time, as if to tease Miyuki's ears. He can kind of hear the fondness in his words now. "If he turns into a puppy at my praise, then you completely take his breath away when you praise him and he ends up having this completely content rosy cheeked look to him for a few days. It's quite interesting when you compare the two reactions."
Miyuki goes completely silent and refrains from dropping his jaw a little, because he never really does pay attention to the way Sawamura reacts to his words, he never really notices and now he kind of wishes he could turn back time and see it for himself. See that dazed look of content that Chris mentioned, see that breathless look—the look he wishes Sawamura would give if he kissed those pouty lips—and Sawamura's such an idiot, such an idiot, but he feels like an even bigger one. He's regretting quite a bit at the moment.
"You're joking r-right? I mean, the kid feels nothing for me."
"I know for a fact that you don't believe that. Sawamura seeks your acknowledgment more than anybody else's." Chris pauses, looks like he's contemplating on what to say next, and then says, "You know, you can fix this, Miyuki." Chris uses such an all knowing tone that Miyuki actually knows exactly what he's talking about. Because of course Chris knows. He probably always knew.
Miyuki face palms and just chuckles to himself for a few seconds. He really is an idiot.
"MIYUKI KAZUYA!"
Ah, he's such an idiot that he's even hearing Sawamura's stupid voice.
"DON'T IGNORE ME! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR GAMES! HI-YAH!"
Next thing Miyuki knows he's being tackled to the floor by Sawamura freakin' Eijun and he feels a quick pain on his back from the impact and fists smacking his chest.
Okay, so he tells himself he deserves this, but Sawamura is clinging onto him like a stupid koala now and he suddenly does not envy Chris-senpai for dealing with Sawamura's clinginess day in and day out throughout their weeks together as a battery. He glares up at the clingy pitcher who is straddling him on the floor, but Miyuki's glare immediately dies down when he sees shimmery beautiful sparkling golden eyes and then, drip drop, a splash of something warm and wet on his glasses, sliding down to his cheek—something so familiar that he's seen quite a few times from those expressive eyes. Miyuki thinks he'd be okay with drowning in them every once in a while, but he quickly snaps out of it and instinctively raises his finger to wipe away at Sawamura's tears, who is still hovering above him. He likes being at eye level with Sawamura. He likes being close to this dummy.
"Why are you crying you idiot?" Miyuki can't help but let the fondness drip out of his voice.
He doesn't care if his face is laced with concern and affection for this crying clingy idiot. He just really wants Sawamura to stop being so sad around him. He admits that he's missed Sawamura.
Chris silently retreats from the heartwarming scene because, freakin' finally.
"I'm crying because of your shitty attitude!" Sawamura sniffs as Miyuki continues to gently wipe away the other's tears.
"I'm sorry." Miyuki croaks out. "I know that I—I've been unreasonable."
"Damn straight you have been! And you ruined everything! I wanted to be bold and brave and totally show you up but then you had to get the wrong idea and—" Sawamura cannot stop the tears, because at some point he really did start to believe that Miyuki saw him as disposable. "I just—I hate you!"
Miyuki winces at those words, but he thinks maybe he deserves it, a bit.
"I hate you because I can't ever hate you and it totally sucks! I'm not making sense anymore! GAHH!"
Miyuki blinks, a bit taken back by the comment. He's aware that Sawamura is a complete contradiction at the moment.
"What?" is all Miyuki can really reply with and it earns him another less teary eyed glare.
"You freakin' IDIOT. I LIKE YOU! I WAS PRACTICING MY CONFESSION TO YOU WITH CHRIS-SENPAI, BUT THEN YOU HAD TO GO AND GET THE WRONG IDEA AND THEN JUST PRETEND LIKE I DIDN'T EVEN EXIST FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS—YOU SUCK MIYUKI KAZUYA!"
He thinks he's able to handle curve balls, and sure, he can, but Sawamura Eijun is in a completely different category. He feels like a big weight is lifted off of him though. Miyuki wipes the last remaining tears from Sawamura's eyes because it seems he's finally stopped crying and he just tenderly watches the boy currently straddling him. He watches the way Sawamura animatedly screams at him, watches the way his lips form words, watches his eyes—his eyes have this softness to them that he's never really seen before. They're really mesmerizing and is Sawamura really looking at him like this? Is this what Chris meant? And is Sawamura talking again? Well, shit.
"Are you even listening, Miyuki Kazuya?" Sawamura lifts an eyebrow because he's looking quite suspicious at the spacey look the catcher beneath him has.
"I—Yes, I am—okay no, not really. Sorry." Miyuki lowers his head.
Sawamura can't help but genuinely laugh because Miyuki sounds so apologetic that it's—it's so not him and it's so damn funny.
Miyuki definitely sees himself getting used to that soft snug cheery laughter, especially when he gets to see Sawamura's cute little dimples.
"It's alright. I just really would like your answer to my confession. It's rude to keep someone waiting, you know." Sawamura gives him a sunny grin.
Ba-dump, ba-dump.
Right. He has to give Sawamura a response.
"Why do you even like me? Aren't I an insufferable bastard?" Miyuki can't help but ask. He just has to know. He knows he isn't the easiest person to deal with.
Sawamura tilts his head to the side a bit, actually looking pensive and he just laughs again, that soft laugh that could lull Miyuki into sweet slumber.
"Why? Hmm, like I said, even though you're a bastard… that's not all there is to you! You're surprisingly kind and you care in your own way. You motivate and inspire us all, especially me. You bring out the best in us and I just wish you would open up a bit more—you know, try not to just take on everything yourself, but I'm sure that's just how you've always been and I accept you for that. I just gotta keep getting to know you." Sawamura huffs. "I can't help that I just really like you, Miyuki Kazuya. The heart wants what it wants." He simply nods as if it were the simplest thing in the world to accept.
Sawamura is certainly something else, an enigma that keeps taking Miyuki by surprise.
"BUT I KEEP CONFESSING AND I STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU—Wha—?!"
He completely misses when Miyuki leans forward and brushes his lips over his rosy cheekbone. Miyuki's breath is warm against his skin and Sawamura freezes at the unexpected action.
"You still with me, Sawamura? Because I'm about to answer your confession." Miyuki whispers, lips moving against Sawamura's sun-kissed skin. Miyuki brushes his lips down towards Sawamura's jaw and elicits a shiver. Sawamura doesn't want to dislodge the warmth of Miyuki's mouth on him. "Mm—kay" He swallows heavily.
Miyuki smiles—Sawamura could feel it—and pulls his head back a few inches. "I—I've liked you for quite some time now," Miyuki says, voice just a hint lower, like it's a secret simply meant for his ears only. The catcher leans forward and his lips press against Sawamura's, finally, their warmth is even more noticeable against Sawamura's mouth.
Sawamura shivers and some instinct in the back of his mind has him awkwardly tipping his head back until their mouths fit together as their lips move softly. They make a soft smacking sound as they part with a sigh and Sawamura realizes that he has closed his eyes.
He opens them and looks up at Miyuki, eyes flitting down to the catcher's parted lips before moving back up to his radiant amber eyes. He notes in fascination that they have darkened now; more like a cloudy amber instead of clear.
"R-Really?" Sawamura suddenly remembers to respond to the other's confession, his voice just a bit unsteady. Something warm coils low in his stomach as Miyuki's lips slide into another smile. "Yeah, I have—still do."
This time, Sawamura is expecting it. He tips his head to the side as Miyuki slightly lowers his head, their lips meet in a touch that seems, to Sawamura, to hold the intensity of amber flames combining with the sun. Something hot and wet runs along the seam of Sawamura's lips and all thoughts cease as he opens his mouth to accept Miyuki's eager tongue.
A strong arm wraps around his waist and a gentle hand finds the back of Sawamura's head as their tongues wrap around each other and explore hot caverns, Sawamura's own hand rising up to catch Miyuki's cheek and bicep.
He wonders distantly if the heavy, bitter taste on his tongue is from the canned coffee Miyuki loves oh so dearly as his fingers rise up more and run through Miyuki's messy windswept hair.
They break apart, their breath heavy between them as they stare into each other's eyes, amber mixes with gold again. Sawamura feels a sudden rush of pleasure and giddiness when he sees the soft blush across Miyuki's face, the swollen flesh of his lips. Sawamura is fiercely proud of the fact that he is the cause of that look.
Miyuki mischievously grins. "So, I heard something interesting from Chris-senpai~" Sawamura frowns, brow raises as he processes what Miyuki says. "He says you look completely breathless and dazed from my praises."
"AH—" he starts, his complaint cut off by the brush of Miyuki's lips against his own. The catcher is grinning, eyes smoldering. "And I wanted to see if you'd have that same look to you if I kissed you," he says, voice low and amused, and it makes things tighten in Sawamura's stomach again.
"O—Oh," Sawamura says a little breathless and leans forward to kiss Miyuki and he puts every single feeling he has for him into it along with the unspoken words of, "I'll make you acknowledge me".
Miyuki absently thinks that, yes, he gets the best reactions out of Sawamura and he can't ever really see himself getting tired of it.
Self indulgent Omake just because:
"Holy shit, the texting never ends and I keep thinking it's Wakana but it's just stupid Miyuki texting Sawamura at night. They see each other every freakin' day you'd think they'd give it a break, but even when they're in person they're even more insufferable." Kuramochi raises his hands in defeat.
"Well, it's the honeymoon phase. At least that's what couples go through, Kuramochi-senpai." Haruichi gives a sympathetic smile.
"They're disgustingly sweet. Just look at them flirting with their eyes on the mound." Kuramochi points towards the field where Miyuki has an arm wrapped around Sawamura's shoulder, leaning into him and whispering something—and okay—that just seems too intimate for his taste—yuck. Now that those two have solved their problems, Kuramochi knows that the lingering, almost discreet touches mean so much more.
"I wouldn't have noticed, but you have a keen eye, senpai."
"I actually wish I didn't, but then again, I prefer this over seeing both those losers mope over each other and deal with their constant mood swings. It was a pain in the ass!"
Haruichi chuckles softly. "Eijun-kun can be quite a handful, but Miyuki-senpai seems to be as well."
"HA! That's an understatement. Both of them are insufferable idiots! I completely remembered what I owed them now." Kuramochi turns to the field to leer at the love birds. "OI, you shitty battery. I OWE YOU GUYS SOMETHING FOR GIVING ME SUCH A NICE TWO WEEKS OF BONDING."
Sawamura and Miyuki both jump and feel shivers go down their spines as they look over at the menacing shortstop.
Kuramochi cracks his knuckles as he approaches them both. "Hope you guys are prepared for the wrestling of your lives."
"CHEETAH-SENPAI, PLEASE. I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO OFFEND YOU!"
"YOU WERE A PAIN IN MY ASS. THEREFORE, A LESSON IS NECESSARY AND YOUR BASTARD OF A CATCHER COMPLETELY MADE A FOOL OUT OF ME TOO. HE DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER APOLOGIZING. SO—THIS IS FAIR PUNISHMENT. YOU BETTER BE PREPARED HYAHAHA!"
What Sawamura did not notice was that he was suddenly alone on the field with a wild cheetah.
"WHAT?! WHERE DID MIYUKI GO?" Sawamura looks around, pretty ticked that his partner completely ditched him, but also a bit impressed because he was used to Kuramochi-senpai being the only fast one. He's suddenly lifted in the air by his collar.
"HE DITCHED YOUR ASS! I TOLD YOU CHRIS-SENPAI WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER CHOICE! SO YOU'RE GOING FIRST!"
"AHH PLEASE NO! IT ISN'T MY FAULT. MATTERS OF THE HEART CANNOT BE EASILY TAMED SENPAI."
"SHUT UP, SAWAMURA!"
Sawamura Eijun swears he'll find Miyuki Kazuya and drag his ass back for Kuramochi-senpai to kick and wrestle down. Instead of finding Miyuki later on after his unwanted punishment, he finds a fresh Pocari Sweat at his door and an apology note from Miyuki, stating that he had a meeting with the coach. Sawamura wonders if it was a convenient excuse or if Miyuki really did have to go at that precise moment that Kuramochi had threatened them. He really does hate that he can't stop smiling at the stupid note and thoughtful drink, despite his whole body aching.
End note: I'm still debating if I like AO3 over ff or if I prefer this more... I wanted to upload my nurse!eijun story from ao3 to here but I'm feeling lazy. I'll still definitely be using this site to upload random oneshots. Alright, until next time peeps.