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The game had started off well for their team, the Tigers were putting up a good fight, but so far they were ahead by three runs. Miyuki's lead and his pitching had kept them ahead after he'd been put in during the fourth inning when their starter had gotten a cramp in his leg. The batters were still having trouble with their timing with his pitches, even if it was the sixth game in the series and he'd pitched in two of them. Taking a deep gulp of the water he'd grabbed, he watched as Miyuki went up to bat. Rolling his shoulder a bit, he grabbed another water and gulped some more down. It wasn't too hot, but it was the sixth inning and he was getting a little tired. With a clang, Miyuki hit a double out to left field, bringing home Mochi who had been on third.
"Nice run, cheetah!" Sawamura yelled, giving the shortstop a high five when he got back to the dugout.
"You're never going to give that up are you?" Mochi chuckled, throwing an arm around the pitcher to pull him into a choke hold. "Never!" he replied, laughing. Mochi released him and grabbed himself a water as they sat, watching the rest of their turn at bat.
The game progressed quickly, the Tigers getting their needed outs, bringing the Giants back onto the field to defend the bottom of the eighth. Sending Miyuki a grin, he jogged out to the mound. Reaching down and grabbing the rosin bag he felt good, his shoulder felt amazing, and he'd kept the Tigers hitless for two innings now. The first batter fouled off two pitches before they struck him out. Sawamura could hear Mochi behind him, catcalling him, making the pitcher chuckle. Some things really never changed. Taking a deep breath and nodding to Miyuki, he pitched a four seam to the outside corner. The batter swung hard, and hit the ball bouncing straight to Mochi, who completed the play with a quick throw to first. His cackle could be heard and Sawamura grinned and threw up two fingers, smirking at the shortstop and the rest of the fielders behind him.
Turning back around, he saw the batter he'd been having trouble with since he was put into the match step up to the batters box. Their first encounter during this game had led to him getting a single, but being thrown out by Miyuki when he had tried to steal second. The next time, he'd had to throw a brushback pitch because the guy was standing so close to the plate. He'd managed a hit two pitches later, but didn't make it to first thanks to the fielders.
Taking a deep breath, he nodded to Miyuki again, trusting in his lead. Throwing a two seam to the outside, the batter fouled it off, causing Sawamura to give out a sigh in relief. The batter set up again, close to the box, making Miyuki frown. Nodding again, he took a deep breath, letting a change up go. The batter swung early and missed it by a mile. Sawamura could tell he was angry, and that just made the pitcher want to laugh. Most people would swung at his change up like that got mad, and he never got tired of seeing it. Damn, he thought as he reached down for the rosin bag, Kaz is rubbing off on me. Standing back up he threw it up in the air a few times before dropping it and blowing off the excess from his fingers, he lifted his head to Miyuki who then asked for a cutter to the inside. Sawamura huffed a laugh and nodded, grinning widely. Taking his time to set himself up, he pushed the dirt around a bit, feeling how it gave a bit. Winding up he threw the pitch he'd once lost, feeling proud that he'd gotten this far. From a pitcher with no control in high school to pitching in the pro league for the Giants, and to Miyuki of all people, who'd been there for him through it all.
The batter jumped back from the box as the pitch whizzed past him. The umpire called a strike. 'Batter out, change sides' rang out, and the batter turned to see the southpaw pumping his fist. Sawamura grinned at Miyuki as the batter glared at him. Suddenly the guy threw his bat down and charged the mound. Eijun froze, this had never happened to him before, and he honestly didn't know how to react. He didn't have to think for long though, because Miyuki had jumped up and gotten in front of the batter before he had made it to the pitcher.
"Hey man, calm down" Miyuki said, putting his arm out to bar the guy from getting closer to Sawamura, knowing if he got the guy to stop and bought some time, Mochi could get to the pitcher as a second line of defense.
"Fuck that, he tried to hit me! Get outta the way." the batter growled out, pushing at the catcher. "That's not going to happen, you aren't getting near my pitcher." Miyuki growled back, not wanting this guy to get any closer to Sawamura. Suddenly a fist was flying at his face, knocking him sideways a bit and sending his mask, that he thankfully had left on, flying. It only took what seemed like a few seconds for the benches to clear and a mess of angry limbs and shouting to surround the two. Miyuki shook his head, a bit dazed from the jarring he had taken. He glared back at the batter, giving him the most condescending look he could muster. He was hauled back as the batter was grabbed by a few other players and pulled off as well, still shouting at the mound where Sawamura stood. Their teams were shouting at one another and the umpires were pulling people apart, trying to settle the hive of angry players. Miyuki was glad, he didn't want to get in trouble or for the batter to get to Sawamura.
Turning and walking to the mound where he saw that Mochi had a hold of Sawamura, he grinned, shaking his head. Obviously the pitcher was angry, his eyes radiating the emotion enough for the catcher to be worried. Thankfully Mochi had stayed by him and kept him from doing something stupid. Putting on a smirk, he walked up to the two and threw an arm around Sawamura's shoulders and pulled him towards the dugout.
"It's fine. I'm fine." Miyuki whispered into his ear, trying to calm the burning rage that was his boyfriend.
"No, it's not." Sawamura growled out, fisting a hand into Miyuki's jersey as they walked. "Are you really okay?"
"Calm down Bakamura, he didn't actually get hurt." Mochi grumbled from the other side, obviously angry about it, but handling it much better than the other. "Thankfully I'm a catcher huh?" Miyuki joked, tilting his head at the other two. This caused Mochi to roll his eyes and chuckle. Sawamura huffed a bit and bumped into him, "I'm glad you're okay." Their teammates expressed their displeasure when everyone returned to the dugout, their left fielder handed Miyuki his mask.
"Shoulda hit him with the damn ball." he fumed when he handed it to the catcher, making Miyuki chuckle. He assured the team he was fine, and everyone nodded and turned their attention back to the game, ready to exact some revenge that wouldn't get them in trouble.
The game continued, the batter had been ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct, and would probably be in more trouble later on. Up to bat, their team took out their frustrations out on the ball, getting three more runs in before the Tigers got the last out. Still angry, Sawamura glared at the dugout as he got took to the mound. Miyuki sighed from home plate, hoping it wasn't going to affect his pitching too much.
After his first pitch, it was clear the idiot was getting tense, and although his glare worked as a great scare tactic, if he couldn't throw a strike, they'd be in trouble. Calling for a timeout, Miyuki strode to the mound, waving off the infielders.
"What." Sawamura grunted as soon as he was in hearing range.
"You're too tense, you need to chill." Miyuki huffed from behind his mitt. Sawamura frowned and adverted his eyes, making Miyuki sigh. "Eijun. Calm down. I told you I am fine." That got the pitcher attention, they tended to only call each other by their surnames on the field, using their given names at home or surrounded by friends. Sighing, he nodded, "Sorry Kaz, I'll stop." The catcher nodded and pressed his mitt to Sawamura's chest, "Let's go win this."
They quickly got the three outs, winning 8-2. After the game was finished and the players were in the dugout, Miyuki pulled Sawamura to the side before they went inside to do the after-game interviews.
"They're going to ask about the punch, don't say anything stupid. Just follow my lead." he told the pitcher, pressing a fist to his heart. The pitcher just frowned in response.
"I still want to punch him back." he whined, earning him a chop on the head from Mochi and an eye roll from Miyuki.
"You can't do that Bakamura." Mochi said, pulling the pitcher into a choke hold, lecturing him on why it was a stupid idea, and he had to be more adult about it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In the locker room, the press were asking a bunch of different questions, mostly about how it felt to win the series against their rival team. But then one reporter had asked the question that everyone had been waiting for since the end of the eighth inning.
"So, Miyuki-san, Sawamura-san, what went through your minds when Nohara-san charged the mound after the eighth inning?"
The tension quickly rose in the room, mostly because the poor Giants PR lady was standing in the corner, probably worrying that the two were going to say something stupid that would reflect on the team. They had actually never gone over what to say about these kind of things, and even if they had, Miyuki did things at his own pace and Sawamura was known to spout random things that got him into trouble. Between the two of them, she was bound to go into early retirement from all the stress.
"Ahhh," Miyuki chuckled, scratching his chin, "I was just glad I left my mask on." This caused a few reporters to laugh, as well as many of their teammates. Beside him, Sawamura chuckled as well.
"Yeah, the last thing we need is you to lose your 'pretty boy catcher' title." Sawamura said, laughing a bit more, "We'd lose half our fans." This caused everyone to laugh, and soon after the interview ended. The PR lady gave them her approval, thanking them for not blowing it up or saying anything that would reflect poorly on the team.
After showering and changing, they headed home, tired from the day they had. Entering their apartment, they put their bags down and headed to bed, ready to sleep away the exhaustion. They had the next day off, and both wanted to sleep in. Murmuring their good nights and pressing kisses to each others lips, they hunkered down, and fell asleep.
The next morning, they awoke to the sun streaming into their bedroom. Crawling out of bed, they went about their morning routines. Miyuki was making breakfast when Sawamura sat down at the table and turned on the news.
"It was quite the night at the Tokyo Dome. The Giants facing the Hanshin Tigers, won out 8-2 to take the series, but we aren't talking about the win when we say that things got hot in the stadium last night. Nohara Hiroshi of the Tigers, in the eighth inning, charged the mound after southpaw Sawamura Eijun of the Giants threw a strike to get him out. He didn't get very far though before the Giant's catcher Miyuki Kazuya got in front of him. Tensions between the rival teams have always been high, but it all came to a head last night, when Nohara threw a punch at Miyuki, hitting him and knocking his catchers mask off. The benches cleared afterwards, but no other altercations took place. The Tiger's player was then ejected from the game, and has since, been served with a seven game suspension and a ¥500,000 fine. His agent released an apology from the player th--" Sawamura turned the TV off and got up, walking over to his boyfriend.
"I still want to punch the guy." he mumbled, wrapping his arms around Miyuki.
"I know Ei, but it's over, let it go. He got what was coming to him." Miyuki chuckled, pushing around the eggs that were cooking. Turning his head, he pressed a kiss to Sawamura's temple, eliciting a chuckle from him. "I love you Kaz." he said, turning his head to face Miyuki. "I love you too Ei." he replied, pressing their lips together.