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Eijun is an overgrown puppy. He’s loud, energetic, messy and utterly adorable. He’s got a magnetic personality that draws others in and lavishes the attention, but not in a snooty way… More like he’s an extreme extrovert, getting energy from being around people.
Needless to say, Haruichi is intrigued. It’s fun to field for him since he’s a contact pitcher that intentionally gets hits to send to the fielders. Combined with his boisterous thank you in advance it isn’t hard to see how they quickly become friends.
-()-
You’d think that someone running on 110% all day would sleep like the dead, but once again Eijun defies expectations. He’s tossing and turning, knowing that he needs to get to sleep but can’t wind down after the day’s activities. Haruichi is concerned. Then, he gets an excellent idea. He’ll share his weighted blanket, since it always helps him calm down after a busy day. Naturally, it’s deep blue with baseballs.
At first, Eijun is shocked. How could he accept such an offer? He knows that Ryosuke made it for his little brother a few years ago when he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and with how close they are… it feels invasive. Haruichi insists, saying that it’s for the good of the team so of course Ryosuke wouldn’t mind. Besides, he’s gotten better at calming himself that he rarely uses it anymore.
The constant deep pressure does wonders for Eijun’s insomnia and for the first time since he’s come to Seido, he’s gotten a full eight hours of sleep. Haruichi gives a small smile when he finishes his chapter of All Creatures Great and Small when he sees his roommate out like a light.
-()-
It turns out that they’re both afraid of thunderstorms.
It isn’t the wind, rain or lightning itself, it’s the thunder. The loud, unpredictable booms are too much for either of them. They both have extra-sensitive hearing and so the larger thunderclaps bring with them physical pain. Just like cats or dogs.
Haruichi has made great progress in overcoming his fear of thunder, but this storm is particularly bad. Having your friend yelping and shivering like a kicked puppy doesn’t help. He’s brought plenty of earplugs for just such a situation and offers a new pair to Eijun.
Unfortunately, Eijun is too far gone to notice the gesture. Haruichi remembers when he got like this. The only way to get him out of this state was pressure like a firm hug. That physical sensation was able to ground him, to pull him out of fight-or-flight mode. So, he crosses the room to sit next to Eijun on his bed and gives a tight hug.
It works!
The storm will probably be raging all night long. At least now, with both of them having earplugs, it’s not painful. Frightening, yes, but now they aren’t stuck in a primordial panic. They decide to pull out their sleeping bags and share the weighted blanket on the floor. It takes a bit to clear off the piles of paper and clothes that Eijun’s left around but soon enough they’re able to sleep side-by-side with the weighted blanket comforting them both.
-()-
One evening, some of the older players come in their room for a game of “truth or dare” as a bonding activity. Things start off innocently enough until Youichi dares Eijun to show them his “stash.” He tilts his head questioningly. What does he mean? Everyone’s already seen his Pokemon card collection so how could that be a dare?
Some faces flush red, others burst out laughing.
Eventually someone calms down enough to explain what kind of “stash” Youichi was talking about and now it’s Eijun’s turn to laugh. Apparently the same kind of thing happened in junior high school. Being as outgoing as he is, he’s always had plenty of friends and teens will do what teens do. He’s never had such a “stash.” His friends will gush about a celebrity crush or a model or someone else and he never got it that way. He’s the first to say that some lady has a nice smile or a boy band singer has really cool hair but he’d never wanted to do anything more than talk for a while.
Haruichi allows himself a small smile before blurting out a bit louder than necessary that Eijun’s already an ace, now all he needs to do is become the Ace! Oops… that definitely was a bit more enthusiastic than he intended… He instantly blushes at the realization, but Eijun keeps on smiling. So that’s what he is, an ace! At long an explanation of why he never got the same tingly feeling that his friends did looking at “adult” magazines! He pats his roomate on the back and thanks him.
Haruichi likes knowing there’s another asexual on the team.
-()-
Eijun’s manga obsession doesn’t stop at shoujo. He enjoys quite a bit of shounen-ai too. One particularly cute one is even about baseball so when a classmate recommends it to him, he practically leaps out of his skin. Such a thing exists? An adorable baseball manga with slight romantic undertones? It’s perfect! He thanks the classmate profusely when they offer to lend him the first arc.
It doesn’t take him long to fall in love with the meditation scenes. Before every single game or practice, he makes a point to grab everyone’s hand to feel their warmth. Anyone who’s cold gets an extra dose of encouragement, no ifs ands or buts about it. It might come off as weird or uncomfortable, but one shot of those puppy-dog eyes and even the toughest crumble and acquiesce to Eijun’s new quirk.
-()-
Eijun’s taken to holding Haruichi’s hand quite a bit recently. Sometimes they’ll be sitting together in the dugout, resting or waiting their turn, and he’ll reach out and grab. Other times they’ll be reading or studying and he’ll seek out the other’s hand. Other times still it’ll be something random like walking to classes. The first time he shoots Eijun a curious glance but doesn’t question it. Part of what makes being around Eijun so much fun is his unpredictability, after all!
Eijun’s hand is rough with calluses. Haruichi doesn’t mind since it’s proof of how hard he’s working. He’s trying anything and everything to prove himself. He smiles internally, thinking about how they’re so similar… sky-high goals and unconventional training to reach them. They don’t want to be normal so of course they have to put in far more work than normal, Eijun with his tire and Haruichi with his wooden bat.
He figures that people at Seido would be intense but even he didn’t expect Eijun’s enthusiasm.
One day at dinner he gets the courage to ask why. Eijun freezes for a moment and Haruichi assures him that he’s not disgusted by it or anything, just curious.
“Because you’re always warm!”
So simple, so blunt and so Eijun. He goes on to explain that he wants to be like him, always confident in himself. He wants to be the ace and the ace needs to be reliable. As he knows from manga, the first step to reliability is confidence in ability. He practically declares to the whole team in the cafeteria that Haruichi is the most reliable person he knows and wants to become even half as reliable as him.
Haruichi can’t help but blush a little. He’s never thought of himself as particularly self-assured… not to mention the empathetic declaration! Still, he’s glad that they have opposite dominant hands so that he can keep on holding hands through the rest of dinner.
It feels nice, to have a friend so blunt but endearing. A friend who doesn’t see him as his brother’s shadow. A friend who genuinely wants to improve so much he can’t help but step up his own regimen to match.
A friend that feels like home.
-()-
Nobody bats an eye when as soon as the game ends, Eijun grabs Haruichi’s left hand and refuses to let go. Nobody’s surprised when they sit together on the bus back home, still holding hands until Eijun falls asleep, gradually melting into their tiny pinch hitter.
Not even Kazuya has any snide comments for when the smaller pinklet also falls asleep, leaning into the other sleeping form. It’s obvious how much trust exists between the two aces of the first string.
-()-
One evening they decide to give kissing a try. They’ve gotten so close and that’s the normal progression of things, right? They soon find out like most other things about themselves, their relationship isn’t typical.
The kiss isn’t bad by any means despite them both being inexperienced, but it doesn’t feel right. Too messy, germy and… wrong. Haruichi gets overstimulated and finds that he really doesn’t like the feeling of lips. It’s not exactly a new discovery, since he’s always shied away from his parent’s kisses, but he had hoped that Eijun would be the exception. Fortunately, Eijun also isn’t too enthused. He still wants there to be some way to show how much he appreciates the other aside from hand holding.
Haruichi gets a great idea. Eskimo kisses! After his diagnosis providing answers on why he hated kissing so much, the Kominatos began giving him nose rubs to show affection. It’s special, not overwhelming and best of all perfect for their comfortable relationship.
More than friends and without sexual undertones.
Haruichi finds the term as he scrolls through his favorite ace blog. Queerplatonic partners.
-()-
Kuramochi is internally screaming. Those two first years are so precious that he feels like he needs to chop down a tree with his bare hands in order to feel remotely manly again. It’s not fair that Sawamura was able to charm the pants off of everyone! It’s not fair that he’s gained Ryosuke’s approval to be queerplatonic partners with his younger brother! It’s not fair that they’re always holding hands sending thumbs-up to each other on the field!
He’s surprised that the whole team hasn’t come down with type two diabetes from how sweet those two are. More often than not, he’ll find them in Sawamura’s bed cuddling like they’re two puzzle pieces meant to fit together. Sometimes they’ll be napping, other times one will read to the other from various books and manga.
Did he mention how soft Sawamura’s voice gets? How he can go from 120% to perfectly calm at the flip of a switch now? He learned quickly how Haruichi can get startled by loud noise and so whenever they’re together he actually has a normal speaking voice. Incredible.
Where he loses it, though, is right after the quarter final game ends when Haruichi runs and picks up Sawamura and spins, hugging him tight. He’ll never forget that look of fondness and pride they share.