Chapter 11: Aftermath
The Next Day - 6:55 AM
Jaded and blindsided. That's how Eijun felt.
He stirred and slowly opened his eyes as dawn broke outside his window, dark and heavy clouds blocking the rising sun. Sleeping last night proved to be a chore with his mind still fresh with racing thoughts about Miyuki. Even now he found it hard to be true, hard to believe, hard to digest.
He had loved Miyuki with every inch of his being, he let him into his life with open arms and tried his absolute best to be a competent battery partner. What more could Miyuki possibly want? Why did it have to be Furuya, a close friend and rival? Was it convenient? Was it easier to get away with?
Eijun sighed heavily as he curled up into a fetal position, feeling the back of his throat swell as he looked at the picture frame sitting on his desk. It was a photo of him and Miyuki on the day of the karaoke party. Miyuki's arm was draped around his shoulder, his other hand holding up the peace sign.
A wide smile was plastered on Eijun's face as Furuya stood next to him, staring at something in the distance. It was a moment of pure bliss and happiness, a memory to be shared years down the line.
Now, that moment was filled with nothing but hurt and sorrow as it occurred to Eijun that the picture was taken only an hour after Miyuki had cheated on him. The answer was right under his nose the entire time, yet Miyuki played his little game so well and hid it from him.
'What a joke,' Eijun thought as he reached for the frame and threw it across the room with what little energy he had left.
His body felt like lead from sobbing and raging all last night, his head also paying the price with a severe headache. He groaned as he massaged his temples in a failed attempt to relax. He had woken up a bit earlier than usual considering there was no practice until further notice, but he couldn't go back to sleep now. Visions of Miyuki's face would just plague his dreams.
Fighting against the sluggishness that was weighing his body down, Eijun lifted himself from his damp mattress and stretched, eliciting a loud yawn in the process.
"Mochi-senpai, I'm going for a run," he mumbled.
He began to lace up his sneakers until he realized that his statement had gone unanswered. He looked up at Kuramochi's bed and found that it was empty. He sighed as he donned his windbreaker and walked out of the room.
'No one's here when I need them. Great.'
--
7:35 AM
Tetsu and Jun stood before Kataoka in his room. Last night, they had concluded that it would be in everyone's best interest to tell Kataoka every last detail of what happened. It was their duty as two important members of the team and as two sympathetic human beings. They could not stand to see Furuya or Eijun suffer any longer.
Kataoka took a swig from his mug of coffee and set it down on his table. "I presume the two of you have something urgent to tell me? Classes start in half an hour."
"Yeah, but we just wanted to get this outta the way and hand the matter over to y'all," Jun said, straightening his posture. "After further confrontation last night, we have confirmed the identity of Furuya's child's father."
Rei leaned forward in her chair, brimming with anticipation. "Please, tell us who it is. Is it someone from the team?"
Tetsu spared Jun a glance of reassurance before taking a deep breath.
"Yes. The father is…Miyuki Kazuya."
Kataoka's eyes slowly widened behind his shades. He let out a bitter sigh as he massaged the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.
"Unbelievable," he said under his breath.
A look of confusion crossed Rei's features as she began to process the rather shocking information. "This doesn't make sense. Aren't he and Sawamura-kun…dating? Why would Miyuki do this?"
Jun balled up his fists behind him as he recalled the infuriating encounter between him and Miyuki.
"I had a hunch since he seemed nonchalant during the group meeting we had, but he admitted it himself when I broke into—allowed myself into his room. Apparently, everything connects back to the karaoke party at Masuda's. Now, before I lose my damn temper, I'll leave the rest of the story to Tetsu. I'll be waiting outside."
Before his partner could convince him to stay, Jun briskly turned around and walked out the door, slamming it on the way.
"You have to excuse him," Tetsu said apologetically, "he didn't take the revelation too well last night."
Kataoka nodded and motioned for the captain to take a seat before him. "It's safe to assume that we all feel the same amount of shock he does. Carry on. We don't have much time."
Tetsu sat down and placed his elbows on his knees.
"The story is quite straightforward actually. From what Jun relayed to me, Miyuki met Furuya in the bathroom at the karaoke place and urged him to drink."
"Which none of you should have been doing," Kataoka interjected.
"C-Correct. Furuya refused at first but gave in when Miyuki promised to catch for him. A few moments later, they made their way to an empty room and had intercourse there. It's difficult to wager if Furuya consented since he was heavily intoxicated, but we can always ask for his side of the story. That's about it."
"And they've kept that a secret from Sawamura-kun the entire time?" Rei asked.
"Miyuki's kept it a secret. Furuya never remembered until recently."
Kataoka shook his head as he took another sip of his coffee. "Well, I'd like to thank you and Isashiki for being loyal team members and telling us. Does anyone else know about this?"
"Everyone else at the moment is under the pretense that Kuramochi is the father after he defended Furuya last night, but I'll make sure to clear his name," Tetsu said as he rose from his seat. "How are you two planning on addressing this?"
"First off, we're hoping to prevent this information from leaking," Rei suggested. "We also have no choice but to tell the school board about this. Depending on how this pans out, Furuya and Miyuki's academic careers could be in jeopardy."
"I hope everything works out well." With that, Tetsu bowed and exited the room, accidentally colliding with Jun who was leaning against the door. "What are you doing?"
Jun massaged his aching forehead. "I was just listenin' in. The board is gonna have a field trip with this one."
As their voices faded away, Kataoka removed his cap in frustration and tossed it onto his desk. He was unsure of how to react, how to feel. This was all too sudden and unprecedented for him to comprehend. Reality was sinking in but he refused to let it sink any further.
Furuya, the shining prospect, had been manipulated by his now untrustworthy catcher, Miyuki, on a day that was meant for fun and relaxation. This was entirely his fault. If he hadn't let them go out unsupervised, this wouldn't have occurred. What was he to do?
His endless train of thoughts ceased as he felt Rei's hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her. "I am responsible as well," he said. "I should have never let them go out, but they deserved it. Why did this have to happen to our team, Takashima? We've worked so hard…"
Rei closed her eyes and smiled softly.
"You don't need to place the blame on yourself. We couldn't have predicted this. We trusted them to behave like adults and it didn't go as planned, but at least we know the truth and they can rely on us to handle it. We should bring Furuya in for a chat and then tell the board afterwards. Is that alright with you?"
Kataoka nodded. "Sure. Thank you."
--
8:20 AM
"Psst!" Haruichi whispered. "Eijun-kun, what are you doing? You're not on the right page—wait, that's not even the right book!"
Eijun snapped out of his daze and forced a sheepish smile as he dug into his bag and pulled out the right book. "M-My bad, Harucchi. I'm just a little tired. What page is it?"
"164. Are you okay? You look a bit more than…tired."
Through his bangs, Haruichi could see that Eijun was in the worst condition that he's ever witnessed. Under his red and watery eyes were dark, terrible bags. His hair was disheveled and oily, and his clothes were wrinkly. He knew that Eijun was a horrible sleeper but this amount of visual distress was unusual.
Eijun laid his head back on his desk and looked at his best friend. "I don't understand people sometimes, Harucchi. Like, I know I'm dense and all, but people shouldn't use that to their advantage."
"I'm not following," Haruichi said as he turned the page of his English textbook. "Did something else happen last night? Also, we're on 165 now."
"It was Kazuya. Kazuya did it. He's the father."
Haruichi felt his world stop turning for what seemed like an eternity. His book fell on his lap as his jaw hung open in shock. He turned away from Eijun and grimaced.
'What?' he thought. 'How did he find out? Did Miyuki-senpai tell him himself? No, that's impossible, he's been too much of a coward. Eijun-kun was never supposed to find out…this is bad. How can I deal with this…'
Haruichi turned back to his friend and, as terrible as he felt doing it, feigned a look of surprise. "I didn't see that coming at all," he lied. "How do you know?"
Eijun played around with his mechanical pencil as he regrettably cycled through the painful memories.
"Spitz-senpai rushed into his room while we were having sex and he confronted him. Kazuya had already blurted it out at that point, but I didn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. Who wants to hear that their boyfriend has gotten someone else pregnant?
"Spitz-senpai said that everything happened when we were at the karaoke bar and that he's been hiding the truth from me for two months. I kinda lost my temper and yelled at him." He had no tears left to cry, so all he could do was whine quietly. "What do I do, Harucchi? I don't know what to do."
"I'm sorry, Eijun-kun. Let's talk about this later, okay? I don't want to disturb the rest of the class."
Turning around to face the front of the room, Haruichi screamed internally.
'This isn't good. I can't tell him that I already knew, but I feel so guilty seeing him like this. This wasn't supposed to happen at all…'
--
8:35 AM
"That's the last time I'm letting you fall asleep on me!" Kuramochi snapped as he frantically jumped into his school uniform.
After unintentionally letting Furuya doze off in his arms last night, the two of them had woken up later than they had liked, since walking in together would make everyone question their relationship even more.
"You could have gone back to your room anytime," Furuya argued as he waited outside Kuramochi's room. "I didn't necessarily ask you to stay the night. You've gone soft."
Checking his hair in the mirror one last time, Kuramochi refrained from muttering obscenities under his breath as he grabbed his bag and walked out the door, Furuya in tow.
"You must be brave talking to me like that. I'm the one who fed your cravings last night. That crab omelet must've had something in it."
"It was a joke."
"Since when did you know how to joke? Hyaha!"
"You seem awfully happy this morning. I didn't know sharing a bed could be that enticing."
Kuramochi spun around and lightly punched Furuya on the arm. "You idiot, it is not like that at all. You're in a better mood and I'd like to see you this way from now on. Hearing you joke around means that I don't have to worry about you, ya know? It makes my life a little bit easier."
Furuya massaged his arm in response to Kuramochi's "light" punch which definitely could have been enough to bruise him.
"So you're saying that me being in a bad mood makes your life harder? I completely understand. You can have your ice cream back. It's still in the fridge. Can we pick up the pace? First period is almost over."
Kuramochi sported a look of disbelief as Furuya sped past him with a small but detectable grin on his face. "H-Hey! Get back here! I didn't say I liked your wisecracks that much! Don't get full of yourself!"
By the time they arrived at school, first period was over, and as they expected, the events from last night had spread like wildfire. With everyone under the false impression that Kuramochi was the father, he was met with puzzled, disappointed, and even angry looks. Keeping his head down as he walked down the hallway proved futile as he still felt the sensation of curious eyeballs boring into the back of his skull.
On the other hand, Furuya paid them no mind. Moving closer to Kuramochi's side, he walked with his head held high, occasionally making strong eye contact with familiar faces to prove that he wasn't afraid of their judgment.
"I didn't expect it to spread this quickly, though," he said as they neared Kuramochi's classroom. "Someone from the lower strings must've felt strongly about what happened yesterday. However, I don't think there's anything to worry about. Your name should be cleared soon."
Kuramochi rose a brow. "Huh? What are you talking about? No one knows that it's Miyuki except for us."
"That's not true. Kominato knows as well."
"Who told him?"
"He said he overheard me talking to Nurse Akagi about the incident. Don't worry, I still think he's keeping it a secret from Sawamura."
"That's funny," a voice said. "That would be the case if I hadn't told him myself."
Furuya and Kuramochi looked up to see Miyuki leaning against the wall, his usual smirk replaced by a sour look.
"What?! What do you mean you told him?" Kuramochi asked. "When did this happen?"
"Where were you last night when my room got unnecessarily broken into and Eijun found out the truth? I thought it was loud enough for everyone to hear." Miyuki ran a hand through his hair as he opened the classroom door and walked in. "We have some catching up to do."
"I was out doing stuff," the shortstop replied in a mocking tone. He turned to Furuya and patted him on the shoulder. "Catch you later, alright? I feel like this isn't the end of things."
Furuya bowed and waited until Kuramochi disappeared behind the door before making his way to the freshman floor. An unsettling pool of worry was building in the pit of his stomach as he approached his second-period class, the only class he shared with Eijun and Haruichi.
'So Sawamura knows, huh?' he thought. 'I have zero inkling on how he's going to react, especially since he heard it from Miyuki-senpai himself. I just hope he doesn't harbor any anger towards me and understands my situation.'
As he was about to slide open the door, he heard a loud noise from within that sent slight chills down his spine.
"OH, SO YOU ALREADY KNEW?!" Eijun shouted.
"Eijun-kun, lower your voice, please!" Haruichi pleaded. "We don't need anyone else hearing about this!"
Furuya hesitantly walked in and immediately made eye contact with Eijun, who, with closed fists and bared teeth, was leaning over Haruichi's desk.
"I…I think we should talk," he said. "All three of us. Now."
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