Why Can't I Catch For You?

Sick

Sawamura stood on wobbly feet as he tried to bring himself back to reality. He was still slightly wheezing, but he tried to calm down once he noticed Kuramochi was watching them. It was embarrassing, but he still couldn't get past the fact that he just kissed Miyuki.

He didn't even know how long he longed for it. It was only after he experienced it first hand that he realized it was everything he wanted. He turned to face Miyuki teasing Kuramochi again, and took a step forward towards them. "Miyuki, can you-" Immediately, a wave of nausea hit him, and there was a faint pounding in his head that wasn't there before. His vision was blurred, and he tried to stop the urge to throw up. Sawamura took a deep breath when he heard Miyuki call out, and started walking towards him again. This time, there was no warning as a migraine pounded even stronger in his head, and he hit the ground before he knew it. "Sawamura? Sawamura!" Miyuki was desperately running towards him, but he couldn't tell how his expression looked. His eyelids felt like lead.

Even then, he knew he couldn't pass out. Not when there was a game next weekend, and he was the starting pitcher. Show any weakness now, and Furuya would take over. There was no absolute way Sawamura would let that happen. He moved his arm to lift himself up, and that sent a blazing pain all over his head. He whimpered softly, but Miyuki still heard it. "What's wrong, Sawamura? Was the kiss that good? I know you enjoyed it as much as I did." Sarcasm dripped from his voice, but his eyes were full of concern.

"No... I'm fine. I was just surprised, that's it. I'm kind of tired, so I'll be heading back first." Sawamura lifted himself slowly up, careful to not show any sign of pain in his expression. He slowly made his way to the dorm, and immediately collapsed into the room right after. "Damn it, what just happened?" He knew love made your knees weak, but he didn't know it would make him this weak.

He only made it a few inches close to his bed before he passed out on the floor.

~~~

When Sawamura awoke, he was miraculously in his bed. He silently thanked Kuramochi for the effort, and hopped out of bed. Well, it was more like he did a little jump, but his legs failed him and he ended up rolling on the floor. He sighed, using the table to get up on his feet. "This is going to be a bad day."

~~~

When Kuramochi took one look at Sawamura, he knew something was wrong. Not only did the boy sleep on the floor yesterday, he was sweating like crazy and kept moving around. It was like he was in heat. Well, that can't be true. It's autumn already. He glanced at his kohai again and noticed that in addition to his sleeping bags, he was limping towards the table where Haruichi and Furuya sat. It was an unusually slow pace for Sawamura. He also noted that there was no noise from him today. He would usually yell first thing in the morning something about "Today is the day I become the Ace!" Or "You better prepare yourselves!", but nothing came out. Instead, it was the quietest morning ever since Sawamura moved in. Even the third years were staring at him in confusion.

In front of him, Miyuki also looked concerned. In fact, he looked as if he were the one devastated. Kuramochi shook his head, anger already boiling in his veins. He did this. That tanuki just had to ruin Sawamura's mental state. And God knows Miyuki would never harm a pitcher. There's no proof that Miyuki was trying to harm him. In fact, he seemed to act emotionally yesterday.

He watched from afar as Miyuki approached Sawamura and tried to get his attention. As Sawamura turned to look at him, Kuramochi noticed his eyes were dull, deprived of life like last years tournament. Worried, Kuramochi approached him too. "Hey, Bakamura, what's wrong?" Sawamura's eyes turned to glance at him for a moment before moving away. His gaze was unsteady and he was looking all over the place. He just couldn't focus on one thing.

In a daze, Sawamura answered with a small "Nothing," and got up to leave. Miyuki didn't let him. "Tell me, did I go to far yesterday?" Sawamura shook his head slowly, but refused to look him in the eye. He tried staggering out of the cafeteria, but Miyuki still blocked him. The catcher's hands cupped his face, and turned his head up. Sawamura's face was flushed red, even up to his ears. "D-don't touch me" he whispered weakly, and his hands tried to peel off the catcher's hands. His hands were shaking, because of the fever or embarrassment, he couldn't tell. "Sawamura." The tone in Miyuki's voice was almost pleading. "I'm sorry. To make it up to you, I'll catch for you the whole day." A small part of him felt happy by the request, but another part of him was afraid. If he finds out that I'm sick, it's all over.

Then again, Sawamura was never much of a thinker. He'll probably suspect me if I don't throw to him anyways. I'll just go with the flow for now. "Really? I've waited so long for this day!" He did an imitation of his usual self, although his heart wasn't into it. Thank god Miyuki smiled and said "During afternoon practice in the bullpen then," before leaving the cafeteria. But Kuramochi was keener. "Hey, listen up, Baka. If I see you sway on your feet again, I'm reporting you to the coach. I don't care how you feel about it. If it's an injury, you better tell me about it." Sawamura gasped and immediately started complaining, but Kuramochi walked out the cafeteria, too fast for Sawamura to catch up with.

~~~

He couldn't remember how long he was on the floor for after the run. After the coach issued a five lap jog, Sawamura was wheezing so much that Miyuki had to request a break. Now, he was just laying down, breathing heavily as he stared into the captain's concerned face. "What, you're tired already? It's barely 5 laps." Sawamura wanted to yell in his face "If only I wasn't sick!" And punch him for the insult, but that would give away everything he worked so hard to hide. Instead, he just clicked his tongue and looked away. Man, I feel so damn pathetic.

Miyuki raised his eyebrows, and then pulled Sawamura up by the arm. "Alright, break's over. Time to go to the bullpen." Sawamura replied with "Oushi, oushi, oushi!" without even thinking. Old habits die hard he guessed.

"Alright, let's test out your condition. First, throw your favorite pitch, the fastball." Sawamura nodded and threw the ball. It missed the strike zone by miles. Miyuki gasped. There was something wrong with Sawamura today. There was no spirit or energy in the pitch. The ball barely had any speed, and since his pitching depends on his energy, it was lifeless. I know this is my fault. But still...

"This is unacceptable. Get yourself together. If you can't even separate baseball with your private life, we won't be able to be together. I think we both know what comes first, right?" Sawamura looked devastated, like the words were stabbing through his heart. There it was. Those lifeless eyes. It killed Miyuki to see them. Maybe he went too far this time. Maybe he should apologize-

No. He can't be soft. He was the captain of the Seido Baseball Team. If Sawamura was going to be this badly affected by his affection, then he'll have to cut ties with him immediately. He has to be stern, as the captain and senpai. He took in a deep breath, but before he was able to say anything, Sawamura cut him to the chase. "Please, let me have 20 more pitches." There it was, the fire in his eyes. Looks like I jumped to conclusions too early. He was nothing like last year. This time, he looked more determined to get back up on his own.

"Ok, we'll try all the numbers and outside-inside pitches. Come at me." Miyuki gestured, trying to ignite a bigger fire in Sawamura's eyes. So he threw. And threw. And threw. Until Miyuki's expectations were left hanging and he stopped grinning. After 20 pitches, Sawamura was sweating like crazy and couldn't stand straight. Miyuki got up and walked over to him again. His breathing was ragged and all over the place. "That's it for today. Anymore and you'll ruin your form. Don't you dare touch another baseball today. Understand?" The menace in Miyuki's voice was so bitter that Sawamura flinched away. He couldn't think of anything to say back. He just knew that he failed. Failed himself and Miyuki. Possibly failed the whole team. "No...no..." He started chasing Miyuki, who was leaving the bullpen. "Wait, I'm-" He didn't get to finish as his vision darkened and his knees gave out.