𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 [𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐲𝐚 𝐬.]

𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧.

"be a lot ha- happier if he let me h- hang out with my boyfriend." katsumi grumbled. yuki chuckled and jun scowled.

"hey, be more respectful!" he flicked her forehead. katsumi laughed lightly, the sound making the boys' chests warm with glee. 'at least she's smiling now...' jun smirked faintly. at the sound of the door sliding open once more, the three turned to face the source of the noise.

"katsu?" furuya walked in, eyes wide at the sight of jun and yuki. "oh, hello, senpai-"

"what are you doing with katsumi?!" in a flash, jun was shaking furuya by the collar of his shirt. furuya gasped softly in shock, going limp in jun's grasp.

"se- senpai!" katsumi squeaked, jumping up to free furuya from jun's grasp. "please, calm d- down!" yuki pried jun off of the pitcher, locking his arms under jun's to hold him in place.

"c'mon, jun. let's leave them to talk. heaven knows miyuki is around here somewhere." yuki smiled at katsumi, dragging a growling jun off. the two underclassmen watched with deadpanned expressions, turning to face each other when they disappeared from the room. furuya was instantly on katsumi, holding her like a child would hold a teddy bear after a nightmare.

"it's been so long since i could hug you." he frowned, burying his face into her neck. katsumi hummed happily, hugging him back and tugging on his shirt.

"kiss?" she looked up at him with wide eyes. furuya smiled, leaning down to peck her softly. "nooo... m- more..." she pulled him back, her lips ghosting over his. "ani- aniki isn't here.."

furuya looked to the doors nervously, before complying with katsumi's demands. she giggled, gently pressing her lips to his. furuya turned a dark red, firmly holding her waist and closing his eyes. katsumi pulled away, giggling at furuya's flushed cheeks and wide eyes.

"don't.. don't look at me like that..." he mumbled, looking away. katsumi laughed lightly, kissing the corner of his lips.

"but you l- look so handsome~!" she teased, eyes fluttering shut. he grumbled, pulling her into a hug. "hey, wanna hang ou- out?" she looked up at him with doe eyes.

"yes. absolutely." he picked her up, holding her against his chest. she giggled, wrapping her legs around his waist. he adjusted his grip underneath her knees, kissing her cheek.

"let's go t- to the field.. watch the suns- set." she cooed, smiling into his shoulder. "please?"

"whatever you want, katsu." he hummed, peeking his head out of the door to watch for kazuya.

"move, move!" she flicked the boy's forehead. "before so- someone sees!" furuya tightened his grip before taking off running, arriving at the fields within a few minutes. he sat katsumi down on the grass, sitting down next to her and wrapping an arm around her.

"i'm sorry.." furuya murmured.

"hm?" katsumi looked over at him, eyebrows furrowed.

"i.. haven't been around much lately." furuya muttered.

"s'okay!" katsumi smiled softly at him, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. he smiled fondly, rubbing the back of his hand with his thumb.

"i'm sorry..." he repeated, nuzzling his face into her shoulder. she only giggled, turning her head to kiss her cheek. he blushed lightly, pulling them both down into a lying position and looking up at the pink sky to avoid her gaze. "look how pretty the sky is.."

"you're p- prettier." katsumi mumbled, using furuya's chest as a pillow. furuya only smiled and blushed darker, pulling katsumi closer to kiss her forehead. she cooed, caressing his cheek and leaning in for a kiss. furuya smiled against her lips, only pulling away when she said he 'needed' to breathe.

"miyuki-senpai is gonna kill me..." he mumbled, half to himself since the girl laying against his chest was falling asleep. "hey, don't fall asleep.. we should get back to..." he never got the chance to finish his sentence, his own eyes slipping shut as he fell into a deep sleep.

˚* ੈ✩‧₊

kazuya and kuramochi were walking out of the canteen, beginning their search for a certain short outfielder. after katsumi's absence at dinner, kazuya became increasingly concerned and was hellbent on finding her.

the lamps decorating the paths lit up, the setting sun almost completely disappearing over the horizon. crickets chirped around them, with occasional cicada buzzing in their ears.

kuramochi looked to kazuya worriedly, "i'm sure she didn't mean to skip dinner... she probably just slept through it or lost track of time." he tried to calm his friend, who gave no response. they walked past the fields, two dark figures in the grass catching the shortstop's eye. "hey, who's in the field?"

kazuya's head jerked over to see what he was talking about, eyes widening and pupils constructing. "it's sumi and furuya." he muttered, changing his course to storm over to the two.

"wait- wait!" kuramochi quickly caught up with the boy, latching onto his arm. "they're asleep!"

"i don't give a damn!" kazuya whispered.

"oh? then why are you whispering?" kazuya only scowled in response, before approaching his sister and teammate, kicking furuya's leg. the boy stirred slowly, eyes gazing around lazily before landing on kazuya.

"oh, miyuki-senpai..." he mumbled. "oh- miyuki-senpai!" his eyes snapped open, wide with fear and shock.

"you'd better explain right fucking now what you're doing, and now just passed, so you're not explaining fast enough." kazuya spat, making a chill run down kuramochi and furuya's spines.

"listen, i just-" furuya suddenly grew angry, covering katsumi's ears to ensure she wouldn't wake up during his outburst. "i just wanted to spend some time with my girlfriend, okay?!"

"girlfriend?" kuramochi gaped.

furuya ignored him, "you used to tease us about getting together, but now you're obsessed with keeping us apart? i don't care if she's your little sister, i won't hurt her!" he sat up slowly, picking katsumi up in his arms and glaring sharply at kazuya. "and if you can't accept that, then you'd at least better learn to live with it. because i am not going to let you intimidate me to distance myself from katsumi anymore than you already have."

kuramochi's mouth hung open at furuya's uncharacteristic rant and kazuya remained silent, eyes narrowed with anger and nostrils flared. he opened his mouth to rebut, but furuya quickly cut him off.

"now, if you'll excuse me, i'm taking katsumi back to her dorm." he walked away from the two older boys, pressing katsumi close to his chest and kissing the top of her head. kuramochi and kazuya stared after him, one quietly seething with anger and the other growing nervous at the other's silence.

"you know.. you can't protect her forever," kazuya's eyes flickered to kuramochi, remaining silent. "she can take care of herself. besides, it's clear that furuya has no intention to treat her wrong." kuramochi turned away, beginning to walk back to his dorm. "they're a good match, you know. and he was right, you were pushing for them to start dating."

kazuya stated after him silently, his anger towards furuya turning on himself. he knew kuramochi was right—deep down, he thought that all along. he just couldn't stand how touchy the two had grown, all it did was remind kazuya of the stories that he'd heard back home; they were awful stories about what happened to girls and how they were mistreated—about how katsumi was mistreated.

he sighed deeply, glaring down at the ground. 'dammit... now i owe them both an apology.' he angrily kicked a rock with his foot, sulking back to his dorm for the night.