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“Game set!”
At that point, Miyuki doesn’t hear the roar of the stadium. He barely registers his teammates hugging each other. The aching pain he feels in his ribs is pushed to the back of his mind, even as Kuramochi slings an arm around his waist to help him off the field because he is very, very much in pain. And, as he watches faces of the people around him as he limps off the field, everyone knows it.
But it doesn’t matter. Because they won.
+++
He manages to convince Rei to let him wait in the locker room for the car she’s prepared to take Miyuki straight to the doctor.
“Boys, don’t forget to ice!” he says from where he’s sitting.
“Shut up! I’m doing it right now.” Sawamura shouts back instantly. “You didn’t even tell us you were hurt! You kept me out of the loop!”
Miyuki, of course, notices how Sawamura switched from using us to me . “Wait, are you worried about me?” he teases.
“Shut up! Go see the doctor!” Sawamura reacts, exactly like he expected him to.
Miyuki snickers. The ache in his ribs is replaced by warmth at the thought that Sawamura might be worried about him. Only baseball and Sawamura could take his mind off this pain.
Rei taps his shoulder. “Miyuki, the car is here.”
Miyuki nods. Rei helps him up and they head for the door. Before he exits, he looks back at Sawamura one last time. He’s startled to see that Sawamura is already looking back at him. There’s a serious expression in Sawamura’s eyes that he can’t understand. Sawamura isn’t made to be serious, he’s made to be obnoxious and loud.
Rei calls his name again before he can ponder it any further, and he leaves.
+++
The doctor doesn’t tell him anything he doesn’t know already. His ribs are bruised, he shouldn’t have waited so long to see a doctor about it, and he definitely shouldn’t have been playing baseball with an injury like that. What do they want him to say? He’s sorry? Everything he’s endured so far is nothing compared to how it would’ve felt to let down all his teammates or even worse, to watch them win the Fall Tournament without him. He doesn’t regret a single thing.
Except for the mandatory three week rest he has to take, which means he’ll miss the Jingu Tournament. It’s a small price to pay in order to be cleared to catch in Spring Koshien. And to be honest, he can really use the rest.
When Miyuki arrives back at the dorms, he sees lights on in the cafeteria. That’s weird, he thinks to himself. He expected there to be parties in the dorms, but the cafeteria usually stayed closed. His curiosity gets the best of him, so he heads straight for the cafeteria.
As he enters, the managers are putting trays of food on the table. The guys already in the room go for them like a pack of wolves. When everyone notices Miyuki standing in the doorway, they cheer.
Haruno, who’s putting out more food, says, “Congratulations, Miyuki-senpai!”
People come up to him, either asking him if he’s okay or talking about what a great game he played.
The first years are especially in awe. “I can’t believe you hit a homerun with an injury like that.” Toujou says to him.
Miyuki shifts uncomfortably. He’s not used to all this obvious praise. “I did what I had to do. I’m just happy we won.”
Speaking of first years… he drifts out of the cafeteria and over to Kuramochi’s room. As usual, Kuramochi is sitting on the ground playing video games while other people are watching him play or loitering about. His eyes seek out Sawamura first, who he spots sitting on his bed with his friends. Their eyes meet, but Sawamura looks away almost immediately. Miyuki decides to wait for Sawamura to approach him, since he obviously has something on his mind. He walks up to Kuramochi instead.
Kuramochi side-eyes him and says, “You better not get soft while we’re all doing the hard work.”
Miyuki sits down next to him. “Who are you calling soft?”
He plays a few rounds with Kuramochi and feels Sawamura’s eyes burn into the back of his head. When he gets up to talk to Zono and Shirasu, Sawamura moves towards him several times, but never comes over.
He stays away even when Furuya walks over, staring at his side. “When will you be able to catch my pitches again?”
“I’m fine, Furuya, thanks for asking.” Miyuki says wryly. “I’ll let you throw as much as you want once I get better.
The gleam in Furuya’s eyes makes him reconsider that promise as soon as he makes it. Before he can take it back, he’s distracted by the sight of Sawamura walking out the door. Miyuki excuses himself and goes after him.
Sawamura leans on the railing, facing the field. Miyuki traces the line of his back, and watches the way the wind blows through his hair. His cheeks redden once he realizes that he’s so caught up in watching Sawamura, he hasn’t said a word yet.
Miyuki clears his throat. “Okay, Sawamura, let it out.”
He jumps and whips around. “Miyuki!”
Miyuki walks over to stand next to him. “You’ve had that constipated look on your face for hours. You obviously have something you want to say.”
Sawamura glares at him, then turns back to the field. “It’s nothing.”
Miyuki nudges him. “It’s not good to hold things in. Just tell me.”
Sawamura grips the railing tighter, but stays silent.
“Oh, I see what the problem is.” Sawamura is a simple person, Miyuki can guess what’s wrong. “You’re worried about becoming the ace again, right? I told you, I’ll draw out your full potential on the mound. After that, it’s up to Coach.” Miyuki moves to put a hand on his shoulder, only for Sawamura to turn sharply to face him.
“That’s not it!” he shouts. “You...you didn’t even tell me you were hurt.”
The tone of Sawamura’s voice sounds starkly different from earlier, in the locker room. He sounds serious, upset, and it throws Miyuki for a loop.
All he can respond with is, “What?”
“You were seriously hurt. I saw Kuramochi carry you off the field.” Sawamura clenches his fists. “And I didn’t know. I was the last person to know.”
“It’s not like I went around telling everybody. Everyone figured it out for themselves. I would’ve rather no one knew, so I could’ve taken care of it myself.”
“You’re not getting it. You were hurting and you didn’t tell me. You should’ve told me.” His voice gets softer. “I thought you would tell me.”
Instinctively, Miyuki lashes out. “Why does it bother you so much, Sawamura? It’s none of your business.”
As soon as he says it, Miyuki regrets it. Sawamura’s face visibly shuts down in front of his eyes before he can say another word.
“Sawamura—”
“You’re right. Sorry for bothering you.” Sawamura turns and leaves.
He wants to do something—stop him, grab his wrist, do anything to keep him from walking away—but his body is frozen.
The most he can do is call out, “Sawamura!”
Sawamura stops, but doesn’t turn back. “Goodnight, Senpai.”
+++
Miyuki lies awake in bed that night. He replays his whole conversation with Sawamura in his head over and over, wincing every time he remembers what he said and how he said it. He messed up. Badly.
Unlike Sawamura, Miyuki doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve. He wasn’t planning on telling anyone he was injured or thinking about his injury at all. Like Kuramochi said, he had all the time in the world to fall apart after they won. He’d bear the burden alone.
It wasn’t until tonight that Miyuki realized that Sawamura might actually care about him the way that he cares about Sawamura. Maybe he’s getting the wrong idea, but definitely didn’t imagine the look on Sawamura’s face. He looked hurt, betrayed. And then he walked away like there was nothing between them at all.
Miyuki turns onto his side. Well, whatever he did or didn’t feel for Miyuki, it’s clear that that’s all over now. The closeness that has grown between them for months means nothing anymore. It’s okay, he tells himself. He’ll apologize to Sawamura, Sawamura will yell, and they’ll go back to normal. Whatever normal was, before he discovered he had these feelings for Sawamura.
It’s strange that his memory doesn’t go far back enough to remember how acted around Sawamura when he didn’t have a crush on him. Maybe Miyuki always had feelings for him, he doesn’t know. He didn’t realize it until that day.
+++
That day, he woke up earlier than normal. The guys had stormed into his room and made it impossible for him to take a shower, which he prefered to do at night. He settled for taking a morning shower, long before anyone else came in to take one too.
Miyuki whistled to himself as he walked to the baths, excited about the prospect of relaxing without a bunch of sweaty, rowdy guys knocking into him. In the distance, he heard a yell coming from the field. He squinted in that direction and saw that the sound was coming from Sawamura, who was running with his tire. He meant to keep walking, he really did, but he couldn’t help but stop and stare as Sawamura tried to kill himself this early in the morning.
He chuckled to himself, then headed for the field before he came to a conscious decision.
“You’ll be dead by lunch going like that,” Miyuki commented, leaning against the entrance.
Sawamura, who stopped to catch his breath, looked up and pointed. “Miyuki Kazuya!”
“I’m glad you can recognize me so early in the morning.” Miyuki grinned. “Speaking of, why are you up so early?”
“I’m not telling you.” Sawamura said between heavy breaths. “You’re just gonna make fun of me.”
“I won’t make fun of you, I swear.” he promises. “Unless it’s something stupid.”
“That’s not a good promise then!” Sawamura protests, then sighs. “Fine, whatever. I like how the sky looks in the morning. It reminds me of back home, when I used to wake up early to help around the house.. I thought that if I woke up early enough here, I’d have the sky all to myself.”
Miyuki was caught off guard by how personal the reason was. It was a typical Sawamura answer—honest, romantic, a little too innocent—but for reason some reason, this one made him feel warm inside.
“That is stupid,” Miyuki responded. “But I guess I wouldn’t understand. I’m a Tokyo boy through and through.”
Sawamura smiled. “Then I’ll have to take you to Nagano someday, so you can see what I mean!”
They both instantly blushed at Sawamura’s suggestion. “I—I mean, if you want to!” Sawamura added.
“I’d love to.” The sentence hung in the air between them, and Miyuki felt more embarrassed the longer they went without saying anything.
Then, Sawamura gave him a bright smile. “It’s a promise!”
Miyuki smiled back. “Promise.”
This time, the silence didn’t feel as awkward as they stood staring at each other. Miyuki contemplated staying there until practice started, until he heard the sound of people headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.
“Damn, I wanted to be the first in the showers!” He turned to go, then stopped. “Go easy on yourself, Sawamura.”
Sawamura saluted him. “Yes, Senpai!”
Only after he was far enough from the field for Sawamura to be a tiny figure did he look back. He realized that the lightness in his chest and way his heart was racing weren’t coincidences. They were because of Sawamura.
He had feelings for Sawamura!
+++
The celebrations last all night long, so breakfast the next morning is an subdued affair. Everyone seems to be suffering from headaches, judging by the way people are eating their food hunched over. Miyuki blends in with the bags in his eyes from a lack of sleep, though for a different reason.
The first year trio is sitting at the first table near the door, so Miyuki doesn’t even have the chance to prepare himself to face Sawamura.
Haruichi notices him first. “Morning, Miyuki-senpai.”
“Morning.” Furuya grunts.
Sawamura says nothing. He doesn’t even look in Miyuki’s direction.
So much for acting like nothing happened. Miyuki thinks to himself. “Morning,” he says back.
If Sawamura said something to him, anything, he’d know they’re okay. He’d sit down next to him and tease him about something stupid to rile him up. He might’ve even agreed to catch some of pitches to make up for being such a jerk, since he was cleared to do light practice.
But Sawamura doesn’t say anything, so he passes by him to sit with the other second years.
Practice isn’t much better. When they do laps around the field, Sawamura makes sure to stay ahead of him. When Miyuki gives fielding advice specifically to him, Sawamura grunts and moves away, which draws confused looks from his friends.
The worse part is when Miyuki walks in on Sawamura begging Ono to catch for him.
No, the worst part is hearing Ono say, “Are you sure you want me, Sawamura? Miyuki will be here soon.”
“Yes, I’m sure! You’re the only one I want to catch my pitches.” Sawamura says eagerly.
Kuramochi is next to him when this happens, which is how he knows he wasn’t able to cover up the look on his face. So he’s not surprised when, after dinner, Kuramochi pulls him aside.
“What did you do to Sawamura?” he asks, blunt.
“Hey, why do you think I did something to Sawamura? How do you know do you know he didn’t do something to me?”
“I saw him when he came back to the dorm.” Kuramochi crosses his arms. “You’re the only one who could make him that upset.”
“I…”
Kuramochi puts a hand. “I don’t care about what’s going on between the two of you. Just fix it, whatever you did. It’s awkward watching the two of you fight.”
Miyuki sighs. “I’ll try.”
+++
After that day on the field, Miyuki found plenty of reasons to be up at the same time as Sawamura. To Sawamura, the reasons varied from liking early morning showers to needing a quick run to help him wake up. The truth was, it was the only time Miyuki got to spend with him alone.
Sawamura grumbled about it at first, but then he said, “I guess if I have to share the sky with anyone, I’m glad it’s you.”
In that moment, Miyuki ruffled his hair and said, “Aw, I had no idea you felt that way about me!”
Sawamura smacked his hand away. “Never mind, I take it back!”
Miyuki laughed and raced each other. For the rest of the day, he had a smile on his face (which Kuramochi wasting no time telling him looked creepy).
He hoped that the more time he spent with Sawamura, the more he’d see that he didn’t actually have feelings for him. Once he knew the real Sawamura, he’d realize he had a crush on some imaginary Sawamura that he had built up in his head.
Instead, the opposite happened. Watching the sun rise together, Miyuki shared more about himself than ever had with anyone before. Sawamura told him all about his friends back home (he hated the sting in his chest every time Wakana came up), Miyuki told him bit and pieces about his childhood in Tokyo. They were growing closer, and Miyuki wanted more as each day passed.
Their battery got stronger as a result. On the days when Sawamura wore him down enough, he noticed that his pitches were crisper. Control was still an issue, as always, but the pitches that landed in the strike zone were strong. If Sawamura kept pitching like that, there was no way he wouldn’t catch Coach’s attention. That’s how Miyuki tried to encourage him, in his own way.
One day, he found Sawamura sitting on the steps that lead down to the field while everyone else was already in the cafeteria eating dinner.
Miyuki sat down next to him. “Not hungry?”
Sawamura glanced at him, then rested his head on his knees. “Not really.”
“Practice was brutal today. You’re not a little hungry?”
No response. Miyuki took in the bags under Sawamura’s eyes and dark aura that was emanating around him.
Miyuki nudged him. “What’s up?”
Sawamura shook his head. “I’m never gonna be the ace, am I?
Without hesitating, Miyuki brought his fist on top of Sawamura’s head.
“Ow!” Sawamura winced, rubbing the spot where he’d been attacked.
“Stop whining, I didn’t hit you that hard.”
“You don’t understand, Miyuki. It feels like everyone is ahead of me. Not just Furuya, everyone. Everyone is moving past me and I can’t catch up. No matter what I do I’m just...stuck. And I don’t know how to move forward.”
Miyuki raised his hand, and Sawamura flinched. “Don’t hit me again!”
This time, Miyuki softly tapped him. “Who are you? The Sawamura I know doesn’t complain and throw himself a pity party. He always looks on the bright side. It’s his most annoying quality, actually.”
Sawamura sighed. “This is different.”
“You’re overthinking things.” Miyuki met his gaze. “All you have to do is trust me. Once I draw out your true potential, there’ll be no doubt in anyone’s mind who the true ace is.”
The way Sawamura was staring at him, he couldn’t look away. “Do you really think so?”
Miyuki nodded. “I believe in you, Sawamura. So don’t give up on yourself.”
There were a few beats of silence, then Sawamura’s face erupted into a smile that spread across his whole face. “Okay. Okay, I won’t give up.”
Sawamura stood up and stretched his arms. “Now that I think about it, I am hungry. I’m going to the cafeteria. You coming?”
Miyuki waved him off. “I’m going to sit out here a little longer.”
Sawamura nodded and walked off. Before he got too far, he stopped and said, “Thanks, Miyuki!”
Miyuki stayed outside looking up at the stars for a long time after that. Everything became clear then. It didn’t matter whether Sawamura felt the same way about him. If he was able to stay by his side and make him smile like that, that would be enough.
+++
In the morning, he waits for Sawamura on the mound, because no fight is going to keep Sawamura from running in the morning. Miyuki has no idea what he’s going to say, hell, he barely has a grasp on what they’re fighting about. If it’s about not telling him about his injury, Miyuki would just apologize. If it’s about their relationship… Miyuki has no idea what to say, because he’s confused enough about their relationship as it is.
Sawamura freezes when he spots Miyuki. “Miyuki, what are you doing here?”
It feels ridiculous to have a serious conversation while Sawamura is holding a tire around his waist, but he can’t back down now. “I’m here for the same reason as you, to run.”
“You don’t—whatever, I’ll come back later.”
Miyuki gets up. “So you are avoiding me.”
Sawamura looks at the ground. “I’m not avoiding you.”
“Yes, you are.” Miyuki sighs. “Look, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you I was injured, I don’t know why I didn’t.”
He meant that. If he was going to tell anyone, it would’ve been Sawamura. He wanted to tell Sawamura. Miyuki remembers that now. Why didn’t he tell him?
“That’s not why I’m avoiding you. You were right, it’s not any of my business.”
“I was upset when I said that. I shouldn’t have gotten so defensive.” Miyuki moves a few steps closer to him. “I’m tired of not talking to each other. Can we just forget it ever happened?”
He hoped that Sawamura might look at him, but Sawamura seemed to retreat more into himself. “It’s not about you. It’s me.”
Miyuki scrunches his eyebrows. “What?”
Sawamura finally raises his head, and now Miyuki saw the blush spreading across his face. “I like running with you in the morning, even though you slow me down. Because I like talking to you. I like it because I like being with you. I like you.”
Miyuki’s mouth opens and closes, but no sound comes out. Even though he guessed (hoped) that that might’ve why Sawamura got so upset, he never believed it. It’s too good to be true.
“It hurt that I had find out that you were injured from everyone else. I thought we were close enough for you to tell me yourself.” Sawamura shakes his head. “But you don’t have tell me anything you don’t want to!”
“Sawamura.”
“Let me finish.” He takes a deep breath. “We can’t go running in the morning anymore. I know you don’t feel the same and...I don’t want to get the wrong idea.”
Sawamura jumps in before he can say anything. “Sorry, I know it’s gross to be confessed to by a guy. I’ll go.”
For the second time, he leaves Miyuki standing there, unable to stop him.
+++
True to his word, Sawamura avoids him for the rest of the day. Miyuki doesn’t have the energy to put a front up in front of Kuramochi and the other guys, so he heads straight back to his room after practice.
He covers his eyes with his arm as he lays in bed. Somehow, he managed to mess up worse with Sawamura than the last time they talked. It was like he lost his voice. He should’ve said I like you too over and over again until Sawamura got the point. Instead, a thousand thoughts we were warring in his head and he wasn’t able to voice any of them. He let Sawamura walk away from him again. And Sawamura seems pretty determined to never be in the same room as him again.
More than Sawamura’s confession, he keeps thinking about why he didn’t tell Sawamura that he was hurt. There’s a specific reason why he didn’t, but he can’t remember it now. What was it?
+++
When that Seiko Academy player plowed into him, Miyuki’s whole body thrummed with pain instantly. Still, he gritted his teeth and got back up instantly with the ball held tightly in his glove. He prayed that the pain was nothing serious, that he’d only need an ice pack and the pain would go away naturally.
In that same game, Miyuki realized that he was seriously hurt.
They won. They were actually going to the Finals. But if he went to Coach and told him about his injury, Coach wouldn’t hesitate to sideline him, and that couldn’t happen. Miyuki wasn’t going to leave his team when they were this close to winning it all. And to be honest, he couldn’t bear to watch them win the Finals without him. No, his only option was to keep it to himself and hope it healed on his own. If it didn’t...he’d worry about that later.
Once they got off the field, Sawamura ran up and hugged him. Miyuki almost winced, but managed to control himself.
Sawamura pulled back and smiled up at him. “We did it, Miyuki. We’re going to the Finals!”
A couple of cracked ribs was worth seeing Sawamura smile at him like that. “It’s not over yet. Save your excitement for when we win the Fall Tournament.”
In the days leading up to the final game, Miyuki tested himself to see if he could actually catch while also hiding his injury. It would be difficult, and his hitting would suffer. Any time the pain got too much to handle, he thought of Tetsu. The most important thing that he ever taught Miyuki was that if the captain crumbled, so did the team. Tetsu would’ve fought until he had to be physically pulled off the field, and Miyuki would do the same. Still, he subtly prepared Ono just in case.
He almost had a heart attack when Sawamura asked him. “Miyuki, are you okay?”
They were in his room. Sawamura was on the floor doing his homework while Miyuki was on the bed reading a book. Sawamura had started coming to his room often, usually because “Kuramochi plays his video games too loud!” Miyuki didn’t mind, he liked that they could hang out without having to say much.
“Huh? That’s a weird question to ask.” Miyuki said.
“I’m just wondering. I don’t know how to explain it, but you seem off these days.”
How strange, that Sawamura could see right through him even though he tried his hardest to put all his guards up. “I’m fine. Just thinking about the game on Saturday. Yakushi is much stronger than the last time we faced them.”
“We’ll be okay.” Sawamura pointed at him. “Don’t take all the stress upon yourself, Captain! You have a whole team behind you.”
For one brief moment, Miyuki wanted to tell him about his injury. Sawamura was weirdly good at comforting everyone but himself, and he would get some relief from the burden of carrying this secret.
But he quickly shook himself out of it. He couldn’t tell Sawamura. He couldn’t tell anyone.
Sawamura put his head on Miyuki’s knees and Miyuki’s pulse jumped again, this time for a different reason. “I wonder if I’ll get pitch.”
He can tell that Sawamura’s mind is still on the Summer Tournament and his battle with the yips. Carefully, he put his hand on Sawamura’s shoulder.
“You’ll pitch tomorrow.” Miyuki assured him.
And I’ll be the one to catch your pitches. Miyuki thought, but that was better left unsaid.
On the day before the Finals, Miyuki slid to the floor on the wall outside of his dorm room. His ache in his side was on fire. He closed his eyes and laid his head back against the wall. It hurt to breathe right now, how is he going to feel tomorrow? His head was filling itself with all sorts of self-doubts and anxious thoughts.
“Miyuki?”
No, no, no. For once, Sawamura was the last person he wanted to see right now. He didn’t want Sawamura to see him like this.
“Miyuki, wait right here.” Sawamura said. Miyuki looked up to watch him walk down the hall in a hurry, turning the corner.
He wasn’t leaving anytime soon, so he may as well see what Sawamura was up to. Sawamura came back as quickly as he left, with a juice box in his hand. He tapped Miyuki on the head with the juice box, then dropped it in his lap.
“Orange juice?” Miyuki said.
“Yes.” Sawamura gave him a firm nod. “Aren’t you going to say thank you?”
“Why did you get me orange juice?” Miyuki said instead.
“Because you looked like you need it.” he said simply.
Miyuki didn’t know how to respond to that.
Sawamura crouched down. “Don’t worry, Captain. We’re gonna win tomorrow.”
Only Sawamura. Only Sawamura could say exactly what he needed to hear in the way he needed to hear it.
Sawamura dusted himself off and got up to leave. Without thinking about it, he reached out and gripped Sawamura’s wrist tight to stop himself from leaving.
Sawamura looked back at him. “Miyuki?”
I lied, Sawamura. Miyuki thought. I’m not fine. I can barely stand right now. The pain isn’t going away on its own, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to catch tomorrow. I don’t know what to do. Tell me what to do.
Miyuki let go of his wrist. “You should get to bed. We both should, we’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
Sawamura rubbed his wrist. Miyuki could see the question in his eyes, but thankfully he didn’t mention it. “Aye, aye, Captain!” he said, saluting.
Miyuki watched Sawamura walk away until he disappeared around the corner. Then he rested his head on his knees.
No matter how much he wanted to, Miyuki couldn’t tell him.
+++
Miyuki opens his eyes and remembers why he couldn’t tell him.
He shoots out of his bed. He leaves his room and goes straight to the cafeteria, where everyone else is finishing up dinner. Sawamura is walking out with his friends when Miyuki makes it to the cafeteria. Without saying a word, he goes right up to Sawamura, grabs his hand, and drags him away.”
“Miyuki? What are you doing?” Sawamura struggles against his grasp. “Let go!”
He holds firm and doesn’t let go of Sawamura until they get to Miyuki’s room.
“Miyuki—”
“You got to say what you wanted to say. Now it’s my turn.” He holds both of Sawamura’s hands in his own, which shuts Sawamura up.
“I didn’t tell you I was injured because I didn’t want you to look at me differently. I’m supposed to be strong and confident, someone you can depend on. I didn’t want you to see my weak and selfish side. The truth is, I wanted to be the one to lead the team to victory. I wanted to be able to look at you say that we won it together.”
“Why does that matter so much to you?” Sawamura is still staring at their hands. The answer’s there, clear as day, but Miyuki understand that he needs to say it out loud.
“Because I like you too, Sawamura. Do you seriously think I like waking up early to go running?” Miyuki runs his hand through his hair. “I only do it because it’s the only time we get to hang out alone.”
He waits for Sawamura to say something. Other than the rapidly changing expressions on his face, Sawamura doesn’t say anything. Miyuki’s stomach drops. Maybe Sawamura has come to his senses and realized that there’s no way he could like someone like Miyuki. Maybe Miyuki made up the whole conversation from this morning in his head.
He decides to follow Sawamura’s example of leaving right after dropping a huge bomb, even though they’re in his room. “So, yeah. That’s all I had to say. I’ll let you...think it over.”
He moves to leave, when Sawamura shocks him by hugging him from behind. “S—Sawamura?!”
Sawamura presses closer. “Miyuki, can I see it? You know, where you got injured?”
Miyuki understands all at once. He rests his hand over the one that is on his chest and says, “Yes.”
Miyuki leads him to the bed. Once they’re both sitting down, he pulls off his shirt. Sawamura’s cheeks redden, but that doesn’t stop him from reaching out to trace the bruise on Miyuki’s ribs with his fingers.
“Whoa,” Sawamura says in awe. “How’d you hide this for so long?”
“The early morning showers helped.” Miyuki says absentmindedly. He’s putting all his effort into distracting himself from how good Sawamura’s touch feels.
“Miyuki.”
Miyuki looks up at the sound of his name, and notices they’re much closer than before.
“I don’t care if you have a weak side or whatever.” Their foreheads are touching now. “You don’t have to hide that from me. I like you, so I like all your sides too.”
Miyuki grinned, feeling happier than he’s felt in a while. “That’s really cheesy, Sawamura.”
“Hey, you said you liked me! That means you’re supposed to be nicer to—”
Miyuki interrupts him by closer the distance between their lips.
+++
It’s not going to perfect. Closing himself off comes second nature to Miyuki, he can’t promise he won’t start putting walls up again. And Sawamura tends to make the wrong assumptions constantly, which leads to myriad of miscommunication problems. But as long as they’re together and able to talk it out, they’ll be alright.
