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Practice in the afternoons after a lengthy day in class had always been an excellent release for Kuramochi. The team was doing some general training down on the practice field. Some were already warming up with stretches while others were already starting their laps around the field. The ease and familiarity of baseball was almost cathartic to him if you didn’t count the constant noise from his kouhai and his internal struggle with his infatuation for his goddamn second baseman. And he felt that this was one battle he would lose.
Kuramochi had never in his life been so fascinated by any person so much. The current object of his fascination was no other than his fielding partner, Kominato Ryousuke. In all of the activity, he spotted a familiar pink head of hair. His eyes landed on Ryo-san who was stretching a little ways in front of him. He was lightly stretching his left arm over his right with care obviously very engrossed in what he was doing. His brows furrowed in concentration and his tongue stuck out slightly as he put a little more pressure into his stretch. It was clear that he didn’t feel Kuramochi’s eyes resting on him or he was just purposefully ignoring them. Kuramochi honestly hoped it was the latter because he felt a little creepy for staring at Ryousuke for so long. It turns out he didn’t have to wonder anymore. Ryousuke turned his head to meet Kuramochi’s eyes with an irritated smirk on his face.
“Like what you see, Youichi?” Ryosuke asked Kuramochi sardonically as he ended his stretch. Great. He was caught staring at his 2nd baseman with no excuse. Quick, he needed to think something up.
“Uh, Ryo-san, I was just… um… observing the way you stretch. Ha! Yeah! You stretch… Good?” Kuramochi stuttered out. Oh wow, way to not sound like a creep. When it came to being put on the spot like that being smooth was out of the question and Kuramochi wasn’t very eloquent usually anyway.
Looking slightly bewildered, Ryosuke's eyebrow raised a fraction as he regarded Kuramochi. “Of course you were,” he drawled with his smirk still in place. “And I suppose you always “observe my stretches”, hm?” At this point, Kuramochi knew Ryo-san was just teasing like always, but he was still rather embarrassed.
“No! No, I don’t always do it. Just sometimes.” He might as well throw in the towel now. This was the peak of humiliation right here. Truthfully, he did observe Ryo sometimes. The way he responded to his jokes, the way he teased him, the way he played the sport they both loved. No one quite did these things like Ryo-san. Ryo-san looked surprised at his declaration so it looked like he didn’t notice his scrutiny. For once, he’d shocked Ryo-san speechless. This had to be a first. The smile that shrank from across his face was a softer, less playful, version of his original smile. It was almost tentative and not an expression he’d ever seen on Ryo-san’s face.
“Oh, Youichi,” he hummed, “that’s… kind of cute.” What? Come again? Did Ryo-san just say that was cute? First of all things, Kuramochi didn’t think anything he did was “cute”. Second, that was definitely not the reaction he was expecting. Really, he was kind of expecting Ryo-san to play it off as joke. He surely wanted him to because this kind of thing was something that could sour their partnership on the field and off the field. Kuramochi would never forgive himself if he made things awkward between Ryo-san and himself.
“What? Did you think I was going to say something mean, Youichi,” Ryousuke questioned with his head tilted playfully.
“I… No, I knew you wouldn’t say anything mean,” Kuramochi started, “but, I didn’t think you would say watching you was cute. I mean, honestly who says something like that when they find out their friend is-”
“Hold on a second,” Ryousuke interrupted., “There’s nothing wrong with paying close attention to someone. Especially… especially if you like that person.” This was the part where if Kuramochi had a drink he would do a spit take. Not only did Ryo-san know he had been watching him, he also knew he had feelings for him. Hell, Kuramochi had just discovered he liked Ryo-san in that way. How did he know so quickly and so surely. Ryo-san took a few steps closer to Kuramochi so that he was face to face with him. (As face to face as they were going to get with Ryo-san’s height.)
“I’m not trying to pressure you into a confession, but I just wanted to let you know that I acknowledge that you feel this way.” The line was delivered a little shakily but firmly. Ryo-san’s stare held Kuramochi’s strong as he said this as if letting him know that he was serious. It almost didn’t suit Ryo-san to be so stern with Kuramochi. He looked as if he were waiting for Kuramochi to say something about this new revelation. His jaw was tensed and… Was Ryo-san anticipating an answer? What was the question?
Kuramochi relaxed himself. If Ryo-san was looking for confirmation, all he had to do was be honest with him.
“Yeah, I do like you, Ryo-san. I truly do. I’m still new to these feelings, but I think you should know about them, too.” He chuckled slightly in embarrassment as he scratched his head. “I guess just watching you from a distance won’t cut it anymore, huh?”
His proclamation visibly relaxed Ryousuke although a soft a blush formed on his face. He cleared his throat and said, “I’m glad, Youichi, because when you’re not watching from a distance, I can see you, too. I think you’ve given me the perfect opening to ask you something else.”
“What do you want to ask me?”
It looked like Ryo-san was having a difficult time asking what he wanted to ask, but he finally spat it out if not a little too quickly.
“Are you free tonight? Like are you doing anything? Maybe we can watch a movie or talk or something.” What was this new side of Ryo-san? He was asking him out. Ryo-San was asking him out! It was almost as if was nervous about hanging out with Kuramochi. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one out of his element. He fought and lost the urge to belt out his signature laugh and instead threw his arm around Ryosuke's shoulder effectively surprising him.
“I think that’s no problem. No problem at all.”
It turns out that their little ‘date’ was just them meeting up in Ryousuke’s room after dinner. Ryo-San had kicked his roommates out with his usual terror inspiring smile and Kuramochi raided the snack machine for refreshments, Most of their “date” was spent swapping stories of their pre-Seido days along with disclosing their thoughts and feelings about each other late into the night.
As the morning sunlight filtered into the dorm room, Ryousuke mumbled softly in his sleep, snuggling down deeper into Kuramochi. Kuramochi glanced down to see Ryo’s soft smile disappear into his side. A content sigh fell from Mochi’s lips as he closed his eyes shut. Everything was calm and right as he laid here with Ryo. He wouldn’t change this for the world. These were the moments he craved for so long with his partner on the field. The quiet, private moments without anyone around to share with him. As much as he enjoyed playing baseball with Ryo, he wanted to do more. To be more. And the best thing was that Ryo-san wanted the same.