Tryst
Tryst: Definition - a private romantic rendezvous
--
Kuramochi invites Furuya and Miyuki to his room. Eijun is out with Sanada, unbeknownst to Miyuki, so they were safe to gather without the threat of being inconveniently interrupted.
Provided with a pillow, Furuya sits cross-legged on the floor while Kuramochi and Miyuki sit at the desk. The shortstop keeps him an arm's length away, still having a strained relationship.
"So," Kuramochi starts, "your mom left?"
"Yes," Furuya says, "She's staying at a hotel until the trains to Hokkaido are running in the morning."
"Makes sense. Traveling eight hours at this time sounds exhausting, but that's not the point. The point is, her food's banging, but her body bangs even more!"
"Oh, Go—" Furuya's interjected as Kuramochi pounces on his shoulders and gives him a suggestive, knowing look.
"When were you gonna tell us that she had a pair of bazoongas? Them shits were huge! She can breastfeed me anytime!"
The pitcher shudders as he imagines Kuramochi at his current size, dressed up in baby clothes and being cradled by his mother, suckling greedily. He sighs.
"That's not something I needed to tell you guys because it was never relevant. I feel very uncomfortable right now."
"Who gives a shit?" Kuramochi laughs, "Doesn't mean we can't ogle at a pair of humongous tits!"
"That's exactly what I said!" Miyuki adds.
"…did I ask? My room, my rules. You can talk when I say you can talk. Anyway, Furuya, I think her tits are bigger than Rei's."
"That's what I said, too!" Miyuki adds again.
"Shut it, four-eyes! Do you wanna die?"
"Calm down, Kuramochi-senpai," Furuya pleads, scooting between them, "I think you'll find it pleasing to know that Miyuki-senpai redeemed himself on our trip. You shouldn't harbor ill feelings towards him anymore."
"Oh, yeah?" the green-haired teen asks, grinding his knuckles, "This bastard redeemed himself? Sounds like a pipe dream. You better start explaining before I start swinging."
Furuya reminisces about their most vulnerable and intimate moments throughout their journey, and a light blush creeps onto his face as he begins listing them.
"As I told you on the phone, I fell sick and Miyuki-senpai took care of me. He made me feel safe in his house because his father was…unnerving. He let me sleep on his bed and we shared my bed in my house. He cooked for me, bathed with me, and carried me up the stairs when my knees were hurting because I kneeled on rice.
"I'm not going to explain why I had to do that, but we really bonded, Kuramochi-senpai. We know things about each other that no one else knows. I would say we had a successful week, didn't we, Miyuki-senpai?"
Miyuki nods affirmatively.
Kuramochi shoots him a warning look as he sucks his teeth and sits back down.
"That's cool and all, and I'm glad you two are locked in, but that doesn't change the fact that pretty boy four-eyes here hurt Sawamura. I don't care how well he's treated you—I mean, I do—but I'm not forgiving him until Sawamura does. And we know that's not happening even if the sky falls down."
"I don't expect his forgiveness either," Miyuki says morosely, "The last thing I asked of him was to move on. I'm doing my part and I hope he is, too. That's all I want from him."
'Oh, he sure did move on, all right,' Kuramochi and Furuya think in unison.
The night carries on as the trio fraternizes, Miyuki's input periodically unwelcome. They talk more about Kasumi's assets, how absurdly rich Furuya is—Kuramochi chews him out for foolishly spending eight hundred dollars on Green Car passes—and the wholesome trip to the aquarium.
Miyuki checks the time on his new phone and cringes.
"Yikes, it's getting late," he says, tapping Furuya on the shoulder, "We should head out."
Furuya looks him up and down, wearing his usual stoic expression.
"We?" he asks, "What do you mean, 'we'?"
"Yes, we," Miyuki parrots, "We're going to bed. Either my room or yours."
"No."
"No?"
"No. I'm sleeping with Kuramochi-senpai tonight."
Miyuki raises a brow as Furuya inches next to Kuramochi and hugs his leg, "Huh? Him? Why do you want to sleep with him? I thought we had something special when it came to the whole sleeping thing. We worked on this for seven days!"
"Don't care. I feel like reverting to my days of being an abrasive, independent mother who doesn't need you. You can manage one night without me, right?"
Miyuki fakes gunshots to the chest, clutching his shirt. If his jaw was a drill, it would be able to strike the Earth's core with how far it's dropped. How incredulous it was for Furuya to just abandon him so casually, so easily, as if their progress meant nothing.
Miyuki wasn't going to openly confess it, because he's been vulnerable enough to last a lifetime, but Furuya, like a fantastical guardian of dreams, warded off the nightmares that vied to attack him. Perhaps it was his innocent childhood spirit, innately trying to give him the peace of mind that he was robbed of.
Whatever the hell it was, it worked, not flawlessly, but it worked. There was no use in convincing Furuya, so he would have to brave the storm alone tonight.
"Don't forget to take your pills," Furuya says.
"I don't wanna hear squat from a traitor," Miyuki grumbles, pouting his lips.
"Pills?" Kuramochi questions.
"He has insomnia," the pitcher explains blatantly.
"Ah, I see. I knew he had issues."
"And now you're telling my business?!" Exasperation would be an understatement of what Miyuki was feeling. They were out to get him and it was torture. He can't bear to sit here a second longer.
He stands up and walks to the door, "I hate it here."
"Hyahaha! Consider it payback, loser!" Kuramochi chuckles, petting Furuya's head.
Miyuki waves his hand at him dismissively. He says goodnight to Furuya and opens the door, but his troubles are far from over.
Looking up, he emits a dazed exhale as he's met with Eijun and Sanada in front of him, making out.
Furuya and Kuramochi clasp their hands over their mouth.
'I'm…I'm being punished, aren't I?' Miyuki thinks, sweat-dropping, 'It never ends. What is this timing?!'
He coughs, "Umm…PDA alert?"
Mid-kiss, Eijun opens his glossy eyes and looks to his right. They bulge out of their sockets as he acknowledges Miyuki's presence and shrieks into Sanada's mouth. He reflexively pushes him, but he falls to the ground instead.
"K-KAZUYA!" he shrieks again, frantically wiping his kiss-swollen lips, "WH-WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
'There he is, in all his cheating glory,' Sanada thinks, 'Look who fumbled the bag.'
"I just got back with Furuya," Miyuki says, glancing at Sanada, "I see you've been busy?"
"Very busy," the Yakushi player remarks as he helps his boyfriend to his feet, "We didn't intend for you to see that, but we're dating. If that wasn't obvious, of course."
His pretentious tone makes the catcher want to strangle him, but he resists the urge. He wasn't envious, not in the slightest. His speech has evidently worked, seeing as Eijun had moved on, but the fact that his lips were now taken by this mere stranger irked him.
They weren't acquaintances, much less friends. Their sole connection was through baseball, and even then they had only interacted on one baseball-related occasion. Those deductions left one question circulating in Miyuki's head, begging to be answered:
How the hell did this happen so fast?
Before he left, Eijun was a disheveled, torpid amalgamation of volatile emotions. He was in no state for a relationship. Miyuki knew him like the back of his hand; he was stupid, but not stupid enough to jump into a stranger's arms for a rebound.
Unless that person was never a stranger, to begin with.
Miyuki turns inside the room, "Did you know…"
Kuramochi nods.
"You, too, Furuya?"
Furuya nods.
The bespectacled teen laughs dryly, "Wow, looks like everyone knew but me. Was this some sort of secret operation that I wasn't meant to find out about?"
"I should go," Sanada says. He kisses Eijun, lingering so he can see Miyuki's face consumed by what he presumes to be jealousy, then pulls away, "Goodnight, babe."
Eijun goes beet red and he hurls a flurry of meaningless curses at Sanada as he jogs away.
"I can't believe he kissed me right in front of you!" he says once he's out of earshot, "That's awkward as hell! This is awkward as hell!" 'Not because of the kissing, but because now I have to deal with you and my conscience is killing me! I didn't cheat, I know I didn't cheat, but how am I supposed to face you when I'm so discombobulated? Ah, I wanna die!'
"I'm happy for you," Miyuki says, "I hope he treats you well."
'And this is why no one told him,' Kuramochi thinks, 'That sounded bitter as fuck…wait, why do I care? Give it to him, Sawamura! Rub it in his sorry face!'
"Th-Thank you," Eijun stutters. He can only muster short responses, for if they were any longer, they would surely result in irreversible casualties.
"Yeah."
Miyuki shuffles past him and heads to his room.
Noticing that Eijun's staring after him, Kuramochi pulls him inside and shuts the door.
"Don't tell me you're actually starting to feel sorry for that bastard!" he assumes, "Why were you staring at him?"
"N-No, I wasn't!" the brunette denies as he takes off his sweater, "Hey, Furuya."
"Hi," Furuya says, "It's good seeing you so energetic and loud."
"Never thought I'd hear you say that, but thanks."
"My mom came with me and she brought food. I saved some for you."
"Really? Heck, yeah! I'm starving!"
"Don't suddenly change the subject!" Kuramochi juts in, veins popping on his forehead.
--
Someone else was kissing Eijun.
Someone else was fucking Eijun.
Someone else was drunk on Eijun's unfaltering and lustful gaze, his habit when he was rapidly approaching his climax.
Someone else was seeing him smile, basking in the warmth and brilliance of their personal sun.
'Be happy for him,' Miyuki thinks as he shakes two pills into the palm of his hand. He chucks them onto his tongue, then chases them with water, swallowing.
'You told him to move on and he did exactly that. So did you. You deleted all his photos and barely thought about him during the week. Barely. So, why do you feel this way? Eijun's not yours anymore. It's his life; he can date whoever he wants.
'You don't own him. You don't control him. Get over it. Your focus should be on Furuya and protecting him. You can't love him like you loved Eijun or return his feelings, but you can be a decent life partner. A decent caretaker. A decent father. Get over it.'
--
The Next Day - 6:00 AM
[Messages - Eijun]
Eijun: Are you awake?
Kazuya: Yeah
Eijun: Outside. On the field. Let's take
Eijun: *talk
Kazuya: Okay
As Miyuki approaches the mound, Eijun's mess of brown hair in the distance smudges against the rising dawn. The sun timidly peeks above a row of clouds, casting serene strips of purple and orange across the sky.
Miyuki, however, knows this talk would be anything but serene.
Eijun motions for him to sit next to him. Well, a good feet away from him.
"Top of the morning," he greets. 'Don't screw this up, Eijun! Don't say any unnecessary information! Just keep calm.'
"Morning," Miyuki says.
"How was your week with Furuya?"
"Fine."
"I'm gonna need a little more than that, Kazuya. Seven days and all you have to show for it is 'fine'?"
"Oh. I didn't think you'd actually care."
"You're right—I don't. I already heard from Furuya. He's returned in one piece and that's what matters."
Miyuki gawks, "Then why are we here at the asscrack of dawn?!"
Eijun frowns as he stands up, blocking the sun from Miyuki's eyes. He looks down at him.
"So no one can see us and get the wrong idea, obviously," he says, "I wanna talk about us. Everything that happened between us. I'll never forget it for as long as I live, probably. I'm just that kind of person. What you did really freaking hurt me, Kazuya.
"I let you know this before, but I'm reminding you. It hurt. A lot. Now that you're back, seeing you around at Seido will always trigger those memories. I've moved on, but I can't control my brain from thinking about it from time to time, ya know? The human brain isn't that forgiving."
'He's speaking so eloquently,' Miyuki thinks, 'He must've really thought this through.'
"And I say that to say this," Eijun continues, balling up his fists, "I'm not forgiving you, Kazuya. I won't forgive and I won't forget. Instead of being a brat and whining about how I feel, I'm gonna be an adult about it. You're gonna become an adult soon and so should I.
"Furuya will give birth and you'll be a parent, and that's very adult-y. I can't let you surpass me in every aspect of life, right? I still hate your guts, but let's be civil. I don't want the team feeling uneasy when we're around each other. Capiche?"
Miyuki sports a wistful look as he nods in understanding.
Eijun, brash and explosive Sawamura Eijun, was maturing. He wasn't putting on a coat of bravado and wearing it proudly; this was a display of pure, bona fide maturity. Admittedly, it was his doing since he incited his previous emotional and mental spiral, but he was strangely more than delighted to witness this.
Being forgiven would be too simple, and it fundamentally told him that Eijun wasn't besotted enough to overlook and underplay his shortcomings.
"Alrighty then, if you'll excuse me," Eijun says as he tightens his shoelaces, "you have some laps to run."
Miyuki points at himself, "Me?"
"Yeah, you! Did you think I was gonna let you off scot-free without a punishment? I'll be chasing after you to make sure you keep form, and you're not stopping until I say you can!"
"B-But—"
"Unh-uh! Don't wanna hear it, you heart-breaking cheater! Start running!"
--
12:30 PM
"Furuya-kun, it's so nice to see you again!" Nurse Akagi says cheerfully as Furuya enters the nurse's office, "How was your week with Miyuki-kun?"
The raven-haired teen bows and sits on the chair in front of her, "Adventurous, to say the least. We've gotten comfortable with each other and he's determined to support me."
"Sounds like he's come a long way. Have you been eating your vegetables?"
"…"
"Hmm. I'll take that as a no. Furuya-kun, remember what I said? You cannot survive on crab omelets alone. Your baby needs a diversified diet because they're eating through you."
"I like crab omelets, so my child should, too. Is that not how it works?"
Nurse Akagi sighs in exasperation, "Some things never change. We can discuss your diet later, I have important and exciting news for you."
Furuya's ear twitches at the sound of that, "What is it?"
The nurse reaches for her clipboard on the file cabinet and flips through it.
"I recently attended a conference with some international peers in the medical field and our findings were monumental. According to our research, though on a minute scale since male pregnancies are rare, they are considerably shorter than female ones. They only last six months."
"I'm in my third month now," Furuya says, looking at his stomach.
"Which means it won't be long until you give birth. How do you feel?"
"I read about the symptoms that occur during the later stages of pregnancy. Back and foot pain, constant peeing, contractions. What a bother."
Nurse Akagi sets down her clipboard and holds the pitcher's hands in hers.
"It will get physically demanding. You're going to seriously hate it at times, maybe all the time, but I know you can do it. As long as you take proper care of yourself and rely on your teammates for help, you'll be okay."
"I know," Furuya says, "I know."
--
7:00 PM
"There's a bump!" Jun shouts triumphantly as he lifts Furuya's shirt.
The regular members, save for Eijun and Haruichi, are assembled in Miyuki's room in his absence. There's no practice this afternoon, so they're relaxing and playing video games.
Their attention is diverted after Jun's voice rings out, and they turn their heads to look at Furuya. The inferior region of his stomach protrudes by a tad, and they give audible "awws" and "oohs" and "aahs."
"Can I touch it?" Tetsu asks tentatively, "There's not much to rub, but it will be a great honor."
"This shit ain't for free," Jun says as he lays Furuya on the floor, "Don't worry, I got this. One dollar for ten seconds of rubbing! Any longer will result in additional charges! Our "mom"ster rookie gotta feed his baby when he pops it out, one way or another."
The team groans disapprovingly, but Masuko shells out two dollars first. Soon, they all line up behind him, dollars and coins in hand.
Furuya is speechless, his mouth agape, 'Wait, wait. I never signed up for this. I didn't even get to voice my opinion. Where are my rights? How is this—o-oh, Maezono-senpai's hands feel quite nice…'
--
Miyuki opens the door to Mei's dorm.
Kasumi's advice comes to mind:
--Flashback--"He's going to depend on you more than ever, so from now on, eliminate trivial things. Whether it's people, pictures, or thoughts. Whatever won't serve you to become the best father you possibly can, whatever will hinder you, throw it away. Distractions are your worst enemy. It sounds heartless, but trust me. You won't regret it."--Flashback End--
"Kazuya!" Mei squeals. He tries to kiss him, but the catcher swerves to avoid it, "Jeez, you just got here and you're already hurting my feelings."
"Aren't I a pro at that?"
The blonde scoffs as they sit down on his bed.
Miyuki was indeed a professional at hurting his feelings, intentionally or not. Dating Eijun instead of him, impregnating Furuya, though mistakenly, and the list drags on. Miyuki only called him and acknowledged his existence when he needed to clear his head or when his nightmares were haunting him.
Like a beaten and unlearning dog stricken with Stockholm syndrome, Mei always ran back, eyes wide and ears flapping to lap up whatever crumbs of attention Miyuki fed him.
The crumbs were never enough to satiate the hunger that roared from the depths of his heart. It was an empty cavern, endlessly waiting for Miyuki to finally view him romantically and fill it up deliciously with love.
He wanted, no, pined for Miyuki to love him. Even if it was for just a day or a sliver of a second, it would suffice.
Nonetheless, he was playing a dangerous game. Being devoid of Miyuki's affection painstakingly chipped away at him, each strike sending his sanity a level deeper into a dark abyss, unknowing of what resided within it.
Masa and Itsuki both insisted he cease the one-sided chase as it was influencing his pitching. He remained the supreme king to outsiders, but they knew his abilities suffered when his thoughts were clouded with ones of Miyuki. They also had feelings for him and wished he would look their way.
Considering what Mei was about to do, they can keep wishing.
"Kazuya," he says, swallowing.
"What?" Miyuki asks, "You seem nervous. Don't tell me I still make you nervous. We've known each other for years; you should be used to me by now."
"I didn't even say anything."
"You don't have to. It's like a sixth sense I've developed since meeting you."
"You're wrong. If that was the case, you would know exactly what I'm going to say next."
"Huh?"
Mei swivels from a seating position to laying on his back. He extends his hand and pulls Miyuki down by the neck, then whispers.
"I want you to fuck me."