Work Text:
Ryou-san Received 11:32
Your roommate is still out practicing
Youichi Sent 11:32
goddamnit
Of course the kid was still practicing. Youichi could never get a break, and apparently, Sawamura never took one.
Youichi stood from his bunk, pocketing his phone, before heading to the bullpen. Unsurprisingly, he found the brunette covered in sweat as he picked up another ball and pitched it into the net in front of him.
Sawamura was breathing heavily as he leaned over to grab yet another ball, like an idiot.
“BAKAMURA!” Youichi shouted from his spot in the doorway.
Sawamura flinched as he slowly turned towards Youichi. “Hi Mochi-senpai…”
Youichi sighed as he stomped over to his underclassman. “Do you have any idea what time it is right now?”
The pitcher paused for a second, his eyebrows scrunching in thought before replying, “Like 9?”
“No!” Youichi shouted as he pulled Sawamura into a headlock, “It’s 11:30! Almost midnight! We should be asleep in the dorm! But no! We’re out here because you couldn’t keep track of time!”
“Uh…”
“Now you're going to get your lefty ass into the bath and meet Masuko and me back in the dorm when you're done!” Youichi lectured as he pointed at Sawamura’s face with his left hand, right arm wrapped around the boy. “Do you understand?”
“Yeah…”
Youichi slapped the first year on the shoulder, “Good. Now go take a bath, you stink.”
Sawamura stuck his tongue out as he wiggled away from Youichi’s grasp. “I will!”
“After you clean up your mess! Bakamura!” Youichi shouted as the boy got further away.
“I will!”
The dang kid just can’t seem to pace himself properly. It’ll take a little more harping from his catchers to actually get it through the kid’s skull.
Youichi will make sure that Miyuki gets on him about it. If the catcher doesn’t work, Youichi’s going to have to pull out the big guns.
———
It was half an hour later when the pitcher returned to the dorm.
Masuko passed out hours ago, leaving only Youichi awake to lecture Sawamura.
“Took ya long enough,” the shortstop said as a greeting.
“I was getting extra practice in,” Sawamura said while rolling his eyes.
Youichi clenched his fists in order to calm himself. “It’s too late for this right now. Go to bed. I’ll lecture you in the morning. Even Masuko passed out before us.” The shortstop sighed loudly, “You’re lucky we have tomorrow off. Coach would kill us if we were late for practice.”
Youichi found slight joy in the shiver of fear that went down Sawamura’s body.
Good. He should be scared.
Sawamura nodded rapidly as he climbed into his bunk, leading to Youichi growing a smirk of satisfaction.
Youichi layed down with many thoughts going through his head.
It started with how he’s going to get Sawamura to stop overworking himself. Then, how Youichi was going to drag Miyuki’s snarky self into lecturing the young pitcher for overworking himself. To Youichi’s back-up plan, which would be a combo attack of Chris and Ryousuke. Which led to his hopes of getting some alone time with Ryousuke tomorrow.
He couldn't wait to spend the day with his second baseman tomorrow. If Youichi could spend the whole day cuddling up to Ryousuke, he would be the happiest man on earth. His boyfriend had the prettiest face. When he opened his eyes it was like he could peer into the innermost parts of Youichi’s soul without even trying. The way he would let a small, genuine smile grow on his face whenever they cuddled always led to a small hitch in Youichi’s breathe.
Ryousuke always struggled to say his feelings out loud but he’d show how much he cared with his actions. He showed it in the way he’d slap Youichi’s shoulder when he missed a ball. He showed it in the slight taps on the shoulder he’d give if he thought the shortstop got too into his own head. He showed it in the way he simply held Youichi when the second year told him about the life he led prior to Seido. The life that was filled with fights, defending his friends, protecting his mom, and so much more.
“Mochi-senpai?” Youichi faintly heard from above.
“Yes, Bakamura?”
“I can’t sleep,” The first year replied as he sat up in his bed.
Youichi sighed slightly before turning towards the brunette. “Get one of your mangas and come over here,” the older male said as he reached over to turn on the lamp beside his bed.
He heard the shuffling of the younger before he saw the boy get down from his bunk. Sawamura grabbed the manga he was currently reading, which lay on his dresser, before walking over to Youichi’s bed. The shortstop moved closer to the wall to allow the younger boy room to sit beside him.
The dip in his bed was slight before the brunette moved around until he deemed himself comfortable. “You can pick what to do. We can sit here and do nothing, you can tell me why you can’t sleep, or you can read your manga. Screens make it harder to fall asleep so we aren’t letting you watch a movie or play video games.” His mom taught him that last part.
“Okay…” It was silent for a few moments, which was a rarity whenever he was within a kilometer of the pitcher. He swore he could hear Sawamura yell from his classroom on Wednesday, even Miyuki looked shocked when the echo reached him. The jerk can deny it all he wants but Youichi saw the wide eyed look before he let out a small laugh. “I don’t know why I can’t sleep, though.”
“Hm? No clue at all?” Youichi questioned, he didn’t doubt Sawamura had no idea. The younger one seemed to be quite oblivious sometimes, especially regarding emotions. Sawamura seemed to be very in tune to other’s emotions when they were down but always seemed to struggle when it came to his own. It almost seemed like he was used to taking care of those around him before taking care of himself, no matter the situation.
“None.”
“In that case, just tell me what you did today,” The older said. It was better than nothing. It allowed Sawamura to continue talking to distract himself while also helping Youichi to find out what is preventing the younger from sleeping. The best solution Youichi could think of at the moment, in all honesty.
“I woke up today, four in the morning like normal,” The little psychopath started. “I ran for half an hour after doing the stretches and training menu Chris-senpai gave me a few days ago. We had team practice after I did my workout for around two hours, which you were there for. My first period class sucked. It bored the hell out of me. I wasn’t even the only one falling asleep. Even Kanemaru looked like he was dying!”
“Quiet!” Youichi whisper-yelled as he slapped the boy’s head. “Masuko-senpai is sleeping!”
“Right, sorry,” Sawamura said ‘quietly’. “Anyway, the second period wasn’t much better. That teacher is known for his long and boring lectures. The guy just couldn’t stop talking about some math equation. Halfway through he wasn’t even talking about math anymore, not that I’m complaining. But I don’t care about some girl he’s talking to or what she said when they met at the gym earlier that day.”
Unfortunately, Youichi knew the exact teacher Sawamura was complaining about.
“Third period wasn’t bad. Then again, I slept through half the class. I actually finished my work in class, though. Thanks to Emi-chan’s help.” Youichi would have to integrate his roommate on ‘Emi-chan’ later. “Fourth period was so much writing. My hand started cramping up halfway through, it was actually torture. I don’t even know how someone can be so cruel.
“Lunch was okay. Harucchi, Furuya, and I sat with Kanemaru and Toujou today. We talked a lot about baseball and how we’re adjusting here, actually. They told us about their practices with the second string while we told them about the practices on the first string. We even told each other about our senpais on both strings, what they like, their habits, personalities, that kind of stuff.”
“Oh?” Youichi suddenly interrupted. “What did you say about us, huh? Sa-wa-mur-a?”
“N-nothing bad, Mochi-senpai!” Sawamura was red in the face, likely from embarrassment. Which meant something better. The first year hadn’t actually insulted any of them. The younger had complimented them. Of course he had. Youichi isn’t surprised. He doesn’t even get why the younger is so embarrassed when others find out he complimented them behind their back when he always praises them to their faces.
“Uh huh,” Youichi said sarcastically. “I totally believe you.”
“I’m not lying!” Okay, they might wake up Masuko. “I just said that you guys were all super cool and reliable! I told them that Onii-san-senpai was really scary but he feels like he cares! He always chopped me on the head after a mistake and he would say that I’m doing just fine even after I made a mistake!” What the hell, Youichi simply got told he sucked whenever he made a mistake in his first year. Where is all this favoritism coming from? “I swear he even smiled when I threw that pick off to you in practice!” Yeah, that’s true. Youichi actually pointed it out later that night. “I said that Masuko-senpai is really nice! He offers me pudding constantly and he always checks on me before he goes to bed! And I told them that you-!” He started before stopping himself suddenly.
“And? What about me, Bakamura?”
“... I told them that you are really caring, despite all the wrestling moves you pull on me. I told them about the nights, just like this one, where you drag me back to bed whenever I stay up too late. I mentioned how you always kick me when I seemed to hesitate for even a moment. I told them that I feel the most comfortable when I know you are behind me because I know that the ball must’ve truly been impossible to get if there was even a chance of you missing it. I told them about the times when you checked on others because you're just kind hearted like that.” Youichi could only stare wide-eyed and shocked, his mouth hanging slightly, as the younger looked him in the eyes. “I told them that, to me, you feel like the older brother I never had in Nagano.”
Youichi couldn’t bring himself to speak. Because what the fuck? One moment Sawamura was complaining about his classes and his boring ass teachers. The next thing he knew Sawamura’s singing Youichi’s praises. His praises!
All he did was wrestle the kid all day. He’d kick him in the back and pull him into a headlock at all times of the day. Youichi shouted at the boy for being too loud and dragged him by the back of his shirt when the pitcher tried pushing himself more than what is healthy.
When did Sawamura start seeing him as an older brother? Youichi wasn’t someone to look up to. He’s fought more people than he could count. He’s defended himself from more knives than he has fingers on his hands. He’d gotten in trouble during middle school more than any of his teammates in Seido had in their entire lives.
He wasn’t someone to look up to.
So why did Sawamura?
Youichi could feel the growing heat in his face as he struggled to get his words out, “I- uh, oh. I- yeah, okay.”
“Wahaha! You’re so embarrassed, Mochi-senpai!”
Youichi could feel the brush brighten as he pulled the younger one into a headlock, “Shut up!”
“AH! Mercy! Mercy!”
“Hmph,” Youichi let the younger go before laying back down on the bed, Sawamura following him shortly after.
Sawamura yawned as he laid next to Youichi. “I’m getting tired now, senpai.”
“Good, get your ass in your bed.”
Youichi heard a small, “Hm.” but no movement was made to get up. It was seconds later when Youichi could hear the faint snores coming from the boy next to him.
“You son of a bitch…”
———
“What! Where the fuck did you get that!” Youichi shouted as he saw the picture his boyfriend had proudly displayed on his phone the next morning.
“Our dear third baseman sent it to me early this morning. His camera angle sucked but I certainly appreciate his efforts,” The pinkette said with a smirk on his face.
“He-” Youichi groaned loudly before slumping in defeat. “So cruel, Ryou-san…”
“Just admit it, Youichi,” The second baseman said with a cocky yet satisfied smile on his face, “You’re starting to see Sawamura as your little brother.”
Youichi blushed, still embarrassed from the night before, “Shut up.”
“Welcome to the life of being a big brother, Youichi,” Ryousuke slightly chuckled.
Youichi may like Masuko but he will get his revenge for this betrayal.