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"No way in hell I am going to buy you ice cream."
Kazuya said, hurried his steps in displeasure when he saw how Mei was looking at him, pouting his lips out fully and standing where he was by the convenience store's door.
He shouldn't have walked anyway right then, not stopping and not meeting eyes with the blonde. But he already accidentally did that, and now the image didn't leave his mind anymore, because that was what Mei could do to him, reducing his brain cells with his look.
Nevertheless, he wouldn't yield.
"You don't need to. I forgot my wallet back in the dorm, so lend me some money." The pitcher said simply, holding out his hands in demand and Kazuya sighed at the sight.
"First of all, why do you want to eat ice cream in the first place?"
"It is winter, and this is the best time to eat ice cream." he said it like a matter of fact, and Kauzya didn't understand the logic behind this abstruse nonsense.
"You can get sick."
"I won't."
"We have an intrasquad match tomorrow."
"I don't think it is related to the talk about me lending money."
It did relate, like who could risk their own health over a cup of sugary ice? Mei, of course, didn't comprehend this and still asked Kazuya to give him money.
And Kazuya, for the love of his life (who actually was standing right there in front of him), held his stance from where he was by the sidewalk, tapping his fingers impatiently. Mei was being a brat, and spoiling him any further wasn't an option.
"I will buy you coffee later, all black like how you are, Kazuya."
"No thanks."
"I won't come to your room and ask to stay over again."
"I know you will do it anyway."
"Hmph!" Mei's pout turned slowly into a scowl and if he was any younger, the blonde probably stomped his feet on the ground and cried out loud in front of the store "Whatever, I will get the ice cream anyway."
The blonde then walked inside the store, not even sparing a look at Kazuya. What the hell, what was Mei doing inside there anyway. He didn't have any money on him, and he just said he needed Kazuya to give him money to buy the freezing treat. Didn't tell him, Mei was thinking about…
He rushed inside the store to look for the blonde, his stomach churned at the thought that Mei was about to do something unacceptable. But when the door of the store opened, Kazuya realized he had been tricked, for Mei charged at him and pulled him deeper inside the convenience store.
He smiled cheekily at Kazuya's surprised face, his left hand held his right hand tightly so that the brunette didn't have the chance to wriggle it out. He made that little proud face of his whenever he strikeouted a batter on the mound, or whenever something went along with his way. It was irksome in a way, and very charming in another.
Right now he wasn't quite sure which emotions he was feeling. But he definitely felt more irritated when Mei opened his mouth.
"Now you will lend me some money?"
"What's up with you and ice cream anyway?"
"I just want it."
"And?"
The blonde blinked his blue eyes for a moment, before exhaling in defeat "I… with you, like a date."
"Huh?"
He was dumbfounded when the words reached him, suddenly his ears failed miserably and Kazuya needed to turn around to look at the boy beside him. Mei's cheeks were dyed in a soft pink, the color crept all the way up to the blonde's ears and behind his nape too.
"Gosh, I want to spend more time with you like a date, Kazuya. Don't make me spell it out like that!"
He mumbled loud enough for both of them to hear it once again, and Kazuya was too speechless to answer the boy in front of him.
He wasn't quite sure where in their talk that had led to this, and he wasn't sure if he was following this through. Because he knew that spending time with his boyfriend and letting him destroy his health were two different things, and they weren't even linked in any way, this is just too unreasonable even for Mei normally. He needed to stand his ground, for the pitcher's sake.
Said the rational human being who was paying for a cup of raisin rum-flavored ice cream in the register, and one grinning boy stood next to him.
At least one of them is happy, Kazuya lamented.
(The next day Mei didn't get sick and Kazuya let out a long sigh in relief)
☆
"Kazuya, I brought you ice cream!"
Mei's voice came from behind the door before Kazuya heard the sound of it being opened.
"Oh, the Narumiya boy had brought you ice cream"
Jun snickered from where he was lying on the floor, a shoujo magazine in his hands. Furuya was massaging the senior's back, and he was reading it along with the bearded man. Tetsuya and Sawamura were sitting in the middle of the room, while the younger brunette taught the former captain how to play shogi. Kuramochi, Ryousuke, and Haruichi sat in a corner and too engaged in their game to care for the blonde by the door. Masuko, too, didn't spare him any attention from where he was lying on Kazuya's bed.
"Shouldn't you guys focus on your entrance exams for the upcoming spring?" The new captain complained from where he was on his desk "You are taking too much space in my room that my roommate doesn't even come back here at night anymore."
"Are you sure it isn't because of you?" Kuramochi laughed from where he was with the game controller, and Ryousuke smirked at that.
"Or both you and Mei, because we all know you guys like to have private time together."
"We just talk about baseball."
Mei replied to the comment before stepping in, closing the door behind him. In his hands was a plastic bag filled with popsicles and ice cream, like what the blonde had said.
"I brought more than enough for you guys, but there was only soda flavor and some fruits ones left, so don't argue if it doesn't suit you."
"I won't say no to free ice cream, Mei-san" Sawamura stopped his playing with Tetsuya, coming close to take the bar Mei was offering.
Jun took a blueberry cup and Furuya took a soda popsicle. Both of the Kominato took the strawberry flavor while Kuramochi ended with a lemon popsicle. Both Tetsuya and Masuko had the apple flavor, although Masuko had two of them instead of one like others.
"I don't need ice cream you know." Kazuya said after all the treats were distributed to the occupants inside his room "Give it to Chris-senpai or something."
"I did, got to his room first and gave him chocolate." Mei replied "This is for you since I know you hate sweets anyway"
The ice cream in front of him wasn't like the other ones his teammates had, it was inside a black cup and the seal came from a different kind. A black sesame flavor ice cream box, and a quite high-end one too, to boost.
"I see Miyuki got boyfriend's privileges." Tetsuya said, although his eyes didn't leave the shogi broad to look at the scene.
Not that he needed to, they all knew how this disgusting couple worked anyway.
"Of course he does." Mei said proudly, before turning on his heels to go back "Kazuya is mine."
"No need to remind us that" Jun continued his reading work after finishing up his treat "No one here will ever love his ass and take him away from you."
"I know." The blonde replied "I am reminding him."
☆
"You should wipe that face off, it is making people uneasy. Did you and Mei get into a fight again?"
Kuramochi said in a low voice, enough for Kazuya to hear him over others' buzzing sounds. He didn't mean to scowl, but there was something just too hard to hide, especially in the sharp eyes of the shortstop.
"No, we didn't."
He retorted back while keeping his jog around the field, steadily breathing in and out. Kuramochi gave him an unimpressive look.
"Whenever it came to Mei, you always have that on, Miyuki. You should practice your lyings if you want to sound more convincing."
"I said, we didn't fight."
Kazuya tried to comeback, because if he was being persuasive enough, maybe the green-haired boy would believe him. He didn't though, and Kuramochi jogged before him.
"What did you do anyway? I saw you guys came back late yesterday, did you say you were going to the convenience store?"
"Yeah we did."
"So what happened?"
Kazuya deepened the frown on his face, as the memories of last night flashed through his head. At the moment, Mei was in the bullpen with the first-year duo, talking about pitching grips and game calling. From where Kazuya was, he couldn't hear what the blonde was saying, but from how the boys were wholeheartedly listening to him, maybe what he was talking about was important to the inexperienced players.
The color of Seidou's compressed shirt really matched well with Mei's blue irises, Kazuya thought back. Whenever he stood on the mound as Seidou's prince, there was always a thrill that ran along people's spines, making them cheer more loudly for the fallen king. They loved the pitcher, weirdly, and the pitcher knew he was loved.
But in this instance the blonde chose to wear a long-sleeved sports shirt with black workout shorts, the image of a blue prince was nowhere to be found. And now that he noticed, outside of their practice with the coach and matches, Mei never wore Seidou's uniform of his own will. He always dressed in his own work clothes, and Kazuya was having problems because his boyfriend always looked more like he was a fashion model than a national baseball player. Which was also a problem itself, since it was very distracting.
"Oh man, and I thought your pining was finally over when you got together with him."
Kuramochi's concerned voice snapped him out of his thoughts and Kazuya turned around to look at the shortstop.
"I'm not pining after Mei."
"You still are." Kuramochi shook his head before stopping on his track "So what's your problem?"
Kazuya pondered for a moment then opened his mouth.
"You know Mei loves ice cream, right?"
"Did you guys fight over ice cream again?"
"Well, no, sort of." He said lamely "I am worried about his health and the amount of sugar intake of his."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean even when we play baseball and all, Mei is eating too much sweet for his own good. I always think he will taste sweet, and I got to confirm it yesterday. His lips were also very cold after he ate ice cream, plus Mei has a habit of licking his lips too. I was thinking maybe I should get him a chapstick for daily use."
"Wait…"
Kuramochi spent a good minute or so to understand Kazuya's implications. And afterwards, when he did, his face fell and whatever worry from before vanished.
"Why can't you just flex your relationship achievements normally for once, Miyuki?"
He let the smile he tried to suppress all day break out in full bloom, much to Kuramochi's annoyance and everyone's surprise.
"Where is the fun in that?"
☆
"This is a bad idea."
Nori tried to reason with two of his teammates for the unattended time, but in no vain. There was no stopping these two when they set their minds to making a certain person suffer.
"Nori, can you take the picture for us after this?" Mei said, throwing his phone to him and going back to prepare his plan.
Which was a pie being filled and frosted with a large amount of whipping cream on the top of it, with a cherry on top too. Kuramochi had said being extreme meant they could go for the extra mile, and Mei had enthusiastically agreed with him.
Nori could understand where the prank came from (it was from Kuramochi's bitterness when their captain was in a happy relationship and he wasn't) but even so, smashing a pie in the catcher's face to congratulate him for losing his first kiss was a little bit too much.
And Mei, he didn't know if the blonde was even aware of the fact he was helping the shortstop congrats Kazuya for losing his lips' virginity. Probably he wasn't, and let's keep it that way.
"He is coming, prepare to launch the attack the moment he steps foot inside the cafeteria."
Kuramochi announced and took his stance by the door. Mei was in his position, ready to lure at the brunette to hold him down for Kuramochi's plan.
When the disaster struck, Kazuya fully expected it, and Nori realized he didn't even try to counter when Mei came from behind him to pull him in a tight hold. What the catcher didn't expect was Kuramochi and his pie-smashing movement, in a swift manner which ended with a fully covered face.
There was a beat of silence before Mei let go of him and sang a song in his ears.
"Happy popping cherry boy~"
Oh, so Mei did aware of what they were doing. Although the happiness didn't last long, for a moment later, Kazuya turned around abruptly and pulled his boyfriend close, smashing his cream-covered face with Mei's own.
Nori's hand accidentally pressed the camera button then, and despite the chaotic scenario of a quarreling couple following after, the picture came out better than what Nori had thought. And Kuramochi approved when he saw it.
(He sent it to Nabe when Mei wasn't looking, they printed it out to blackmail Kazuya afterward. Mei wasn't really amused, but he jumped on the bandwagon again. Making his boyfriend suffer was a must in the blonde's dictionary.)
☆
"You want me to what, Sawamura?"
"I think you guys aren't being that romantic" The young player repeated what he said and the captain was even more confused "Mei-san likes it when people praise or be nice to him."
"And what do you mean by that?"
The boy asked him to come closer and Sawamura whispered in his ears, like trying to disclose a secret.
"Miyuki-senpai should be more lovey-dovey with him."
"Did you fall into shoujo manga syndrome again?"
Because if Sawamura did, Kazuya would go to the principal's office and start suggesting banning shoujo manga around the campus from now on, whether Jun approved that idea or not. You should know about the fallen shoujo manga syndrome, such as the state of the young boy in front of him right now, there was only one result in the conclusion. And Kazuya would love to see another day of his life rather than become the victim of shoujo manga's fantasy. Again.
"I didn't."
That sounded awfully like a lie, but Sawamura didn't know how to lie so the captain continued to listen to his story. Big mistake, really.
"Did you read shoujo manga when Kuramochi wasn't supervising you? Or did you eat something bad in today's dinner?"
"Senpai, I am being serious."
The boy said, with his gaze being all determined without a hint of delusional (wrong subject though) and his hands placed on Kazuya's shoulder like the heavy weight of a responsible man (who was giving him a love console).
And maybe because lately Kazuya didn't really care anymore, or he was too used to the incomprehensible things his teammates were spouting, that he found himself sitting in the middle of room 5, with a box of ice cream in his hands, and one Sawamura cheering silently beside him.
Because what the fuck.
"What the fuck?" Mei echoed the question in his mind from where he was sitting across Kazuya, his arms placed by the sides and an annoying look on his face.
"Sawamura?"
He turned to the junior to seek help, and Sawamura beamed, with his thousand watts smile and the face of an innocent child (no, he wasn't. He likely tried to plan this all while high on shoujo manga. Kazuya definitely would suggest banning that cursed genre from now on. Or stop the influence of the Kominato.)
"Well, Mei-san said he wanted to eat some new brand of raisin rum-flavored ice cream the other day, so Miyuki-senpai went out to buy it."
The boy explained, except for the fact that no, the box of ice in his hand was probably purchased beforehand by the junior and not Kazuya himself.
"He never brought me ice cream. Out of his will, that is."
"Well, you are right. I did." Sawamura confessed, but he continued anyway "But it was Miyuki-senpai's idea, of feeding you with ice cream."
"What?!"
They said in unison, and Kazuya turned to see his junior, who was still having a thousand watts smile on and mouthing at him.
'Miyuki-senpai, fighting! Oishi!'
"Are you for real?" Mei's voice snapped him out, and Kazuya turned to see his boyfriend.
"Er, yeah?" He said awkwardly "I guess?"
"Okay."
"Huh? What do you mean 'okay'?"
The blonde didn't reply to him anymore, instead, he opened his mouth and waited for the icy treat. And Kazuya, being the pitiful and difficult human being he was, had accidentally dropped the first feeding spoon on the blonde's shirt.
The rest of the story was involved in an awkward silence, Sawamura still cheering beside him, and Mei was so done he just took the spoon himself. He then scooped the ice cream, shoving it in Kazuya's mouth before bending down and eating it from there.
It was nice, horrifying too, but Kazuya didn't complain about the ice cream's sweetness anymore. He learned to appreciate things more, especially when it was something his boyfriend liked.
(Turned out that Sawamura was unmistakably having shoujo manga syndrome again. And the monthly issues were banned from room 5 for a while, with Kuramochi's affirmation.)