VII. The True Ace Makes An Appearance

Nanairō

"Satō?" I turned my head at the sound of a voice it had been months since I heard. I found myself staring at the familiar smirk, golden eyes and messy hair. "Hello, Snake." He grinned widely. "I heard you were looking for me? Guess you met the loud underclassmen, yeah?" I grinned. "Yeah, I met Sawamura. He's pretty spirited. From what I heard from a little birdie, you sent that first year up to my room to ask me. Couldn't ask yourself? Nori has been subtly hinting that I should go and play Baseball with everyone again, I was wondering myself when you were going to pull something." Miyuki grinned. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" Such a bad liar, I know his ears turn red at the tips when he lies.

I walked over and pinched his ears where they were turning red. "Ooh, such a bad liar." He swatted my hand away. "God, you still can read me huh?" Our touching reunion was interrupted by the loud first year from before and a black haired boy with gray eyes. "SENPAI AND MIYUKI KAZUYA! WE'RE HERE!" I winced at how loud he was. Haha... Miyuki gets no respect, it must infuriate him. I grinned at the two First years. "You must be the monster rookie? That's a nicer name than what they called me last year." The boy blinked at my knowledge of his existence.

"Satō, you got called Disrespectful Kōhai because you called Jun Spitz all the time." I grinned. "Like you didn't help." Sawamura seemed shocked. "YOU CALL HIM SPITZ TOO!?" I looked at him, still grinning. "Of course, of course. Who do you think dubbed him Seidō's Spitz?" Miyuki shook his head. "Everyone started calling him that after you left with the exception of Tanba, Kawakami and Yuki." I snickered. "Sawamura, ask Jun about his Bazooka ball sometime." Miyuki snorted. Sawamura got excited. "What is it! I wanna know!" I grinned. "Ask Jun at dinner later. And if he asked who told you about it, tell him it was the disrespectful Kōhai." Sawamura nodded.

"Satōshi, you warmed up before hand right?" I nodded. "Ok, then let's do what we came here to do. Are you really okay with forming a battery with me again after that night?" I grinned and walked to the mound in response. "Well, I don't see anyone else in here that can catch my pitch." Miyuki shook his head as he walked to his spot. "Alright. Let's start with a change up then." I nodded as he got into position and pulled his mask down to protect his face.

I raised my arms above my head, zeroed in on the glove as I wound up. Delivers the pitch, my fingers scraping the ground like they used to, as if there wasn't any time between now and the last time I went all out. The ball smacked into his glove, filling out with a loud bang that could probably be heard on the other field. I stood back up and looked over at the two underclassmen. Their mouths were hanging open and they were frozen in place in shock.

"Are you surprised?" Miyuki grinned. I raised my eyebrow. "You say that like you've caught my pitch within the last few months." He looked at me. "And who's fault is that for disappearing from the team?" I stepped down from the mound and crossed my arms. "How about the ones who beat me senseless?" Miyuki flinched at my harsh tone and sudden intolerance. "What? You act like it was my fault you had to put Tanba in place."

I looked at him. "Not your fault? Wow. Okay, who's fault was it I had to catch?" He raised his voice at that comment. "I never asked for you I the first place! I would've been fine without you! This team... This team doesn't need you. So just quit already..." For some reason that response made me feel sick. Miyuki's eyes widened, probably realizing he was the reason I was crying.

I roughly wiped my face and glared at him. "Fine. Do what you want. I'll leave the team." I threw the glove I was using at his chest and walked out, heading for my dorm. "S-Satoshi?" I looked back when I heard my name coming out of the same mouth than just insulted me and my pride. "Miyuki this is your only warning. Stay away from me." I turned back around and proceeded to my room. I knew I was acting like a child. So what? So what if I had been fed up with being talked to like that? What I do is no longer any of this team's business.

A hand attached to my arm and turned me around. I glared and yanked my arm away. Then I noticed a girl trailing along with him. "You've got to be kidding. First you follow me to my dorm after I told you to leave me alone, and now that evil girl?" I scoffed at Miyuki. "You really are full of yourself aren't you? Go find another pitcher to catch for. I'm doing just what you asked for. You wanted me to quit right?" Nahī walked up to me and slapped me hard enough to make my head turn. "How DARE you talk to my boyfriend like that!?!"

I just stayed as I was, not wanting to talk to anyone anymore. "Go. Get away from me before I hit you with a bat..." Miyuki frowned and turned to Nahī. "I told you before, we aren't and never will be together. So get out of my sight." My eyes widened slightly as Nahī ran off sobbing and crying like a mess. "You really shouldn't talk to your girlfriend like that." He looked at me. "She isn't my girlfriend... Heck, she's hardly your sister seeing how hard she hit you." I stared at him. I busted out laughing all of a sudden.

He panicked slightly. "H-huh?!" I regained composure and looked at him fighting a grin and put him in a headlock and ruffled his hair. "You tick me off to no end, but you're so clueless sometimes! Like a child. But you're still a snake." He coughed and I let him go. "How are you still stronger than me..."

I grinned. "What? You think just because I didn't practice with you guys I didn't practice at all-" suddenly I was tackled. By two hopeless first years. I looked up at the two from the ground. "SATŌSHI-SENPAI! YOU'RE TOO AWESOME TO QUIT BASEBALL! DON'T LISTEN TO MIYUKI KAZUYA!" I looked at the two holding in the urge to laugh. "Pfft... No respect for Kazuya. And I wasn't going to quit, it was just revenge on that idiot."

Sawamura's face went from serious to 'oh my God I got a puppy for Christmas'. "PLEASE TEACH ME HOW TO PITCH!" I blinked at the sudden change in subject and tone. "Uhm... Sure? I haven't really caught in a while though." The two idiots looked like a catastrophic hurricane just hit Seidō. "WAIT SATŌSHI SENPAI CAN CATCH!?"

I looked at Miyuki to see him shrug and I cut my eyes at him. "Miyuki... How dare you not tell them about your only rival?" I put him in a veeeeery tight headlock. "C-can't... breathe..." I loosened so he could breathe. "...Miyuki..." I sighed. "Is there something wrong with you?" He gulped.

I let go and squinted at him. He looked back at me. "Is it him...?" His eyes widened. He knew I was talking about Chris. "Yeah... Speaking of, c'mon Sawamura, we need to go to the coach for something." Sawamura dropped his head like he was depressed and followed. I of course tagged along and left Furuya.

I was waiting outside when I heard shouting from inside. I jumped up from my seat on the ground just before Miyuki came storming out. I followed after him in a hurry, leaving Sawamura. "What's happened? Miyuki! Oi!" I grabbed his shoulder but he shoved me off, causing me to stumble into the ground. "Miyuki! Get back here!" I got up off the ground and stumbled into him, accidentally headbutting him.

He grabbed my shirt collar and pulled me off of the ground and up to his height. His eyes weren't the same. His eyes had an angry gleam to them behind an annoyed expression and a glare. He tightened his grip on my shirt, causing it to become a restraint on my breathing. "Why. Why you? Why aren't you..." My eyes widened. I was starting to choke for air. "M-Miyuki... I c-can't..." That seemed to make him realize what he was doing. I started trying to escape him, but it took someone else pulling me away from Miyuki.

"What are you doing, Miyuki?" The one who had saved me was Tweedledum. Kuramochi had a serious tone and the face to match, which were both rare. He lightly pushed me behind him in a protective manner, reminding me of how a man would protect a woman like this. "I'm sorry... Something made me snap earlier and I don't know what's gotten into me..." I looked at Miyuki, who had calmed down. He sighed. "That idiot Sawamura ticks me off... He doesn't know anything about Chris-senpai but he trashed him without a second thought..." Kuramochi seemed to relax slightly, since his stiff shoulders loosened and he grabbed Miyuki and put him in a headlock.

"Kyahaha! When did you get so sentimental Miyuki?" Miyuki seemed to loose all tension. He laughed with Kuramochi. I felt relieved that Kuramochi was able to calm the idiot down. "Jeez, still Tweedledee and Tweedledum..." They didn't seem to notice my comment. I smiled and walked away, knowing there was nothing I could do.

I sighed and made my way to the Coach's office. Before I could even open the door, I was tackled by the same idiot that ticked off Snake. "ACE-SENPAI! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO QUIT ARE YOU? STUPID MIYUKI WENT OFF ON ME AND ATLEAST I KNOW YOU WON'T SNAP AT ME!" I sighed. "He snapped for a reason... He really admires Chris, and doesn't think he earned that spot as starting Catcher. If you want to know why, go talk to Miyuki or Chris. And be respectful to both okay? I really think you should apologize to both of them..." Sawamura stared and me and then nodded intently and ran off. I sighed and shook my head at the idiot's eagerness. "So much energy for one idiot is dangerous..." I got off of the ground while watching him run off before going inside.

I walked in and bowed. "Coach Kataoka." He was standing at the window. "You're here to quit right?" I smiled. "Actually..." He turned to face me. He was wearing his usual sunglasses inside. He had a serious expression on his face, but I could see the wonder behind his eyes even though they were hidden by a pair of sunglasses. "Actually, I'm here to tell you that I would like to resume my team activities and participation." A slight smile broke his hard expression. "Practice today is at 6:00PM for second string. Then there's a scrimmage game tomorrow at 8:00AM against the starters." I nodded and bowed before leaving the room.

I walked to my dorm and changed before crashing on my bed and reading until 4:30. I was going to show those jerks that beat me almost to hospitalization that I wasn't going to be dominated by such a thing like that. I was told that the alumni would be there, meaning I would be running into Azuma. I knew revenge was useless, but I had been training 4 months to show them I could only get stronger not weaker, contrast to their thinking.

I left my room for practice with the second string only to find that only Third years who hadn't made the cut to rejoin first string were there. There was about 12 of us. "Is this everyone?" They all looked at me and their eyes widened. "No way... You're playing with the first string right?" I grinned and held up two fingers. "Second string actually. Is there a pitcher or Catcher in this group?" They all looked around and someone spoke up. "No. We only have you as a pitcher, but no catcher."

I hummed and looked at the 12. "Okay I know how we'll find a catcher. I was told coach would be at the first string practice that's on the other field, so let's start our laps yeah?" They nodded and chased after me and my fast run, which they had to sprint to keep up with. "This is an endurance test, the last one running other than me passes the test!" I heard wheezed out responses as everyone was sprinting for such a distance, of course I was trying to tire them out. It was the only way to distinguish the weak and the strong. Like sniffing out a rotten fruit among a bin of fresh fruit.

We had just hit our fifth lap and only two of the wheezing boys were keeping up. I started sprinting, pushing them to run faster, which caused one to fall. I stopped and looked at the boy who had won. He was tall, maybe 186cm. He had broad shoulders and a well built figure. "Name and position." He looked startled. "T-tahata Ichigo, Third basemen..." I smiled at his timidity for such a tall guy. "Alright then Tahata-senpai, I'm going to train you in the ways of a Catcher. You must have quite an arm if you're a third baseman." He nodded shyly.

I looked at the others. "As for the first and second basemen, since there are two people competing for that position, you four should stay along with Tahata-senpai after practice so I can decide on who is playing the position and who will be our designated hitters." They all nodded.

It was only the six of us left, the others had all gone home after I taught them tips on fielding and batting. "Okay so I decided who's going to be what. I know this is the only practice we've had together and there's a game tomorrow morning, but I think Mata-senpai and Kishi-senpai will be our designated hitters in a rotation. And if something happens you'll step in your normal positions. I'm saying this because I know you two can hit well." The four nodded and walked away towards the dorms.

"Okay Tahata-senpai, let's get you set up as a Catcher okay?" He nodded and I led him to the training center. I pushed the door open to see most of first string in the building working out. I stepped in with a serious expression with Tahata shyly trailing behind me. There was muttering around the two of us. "Is that really Satōshi? He looks like he lost so much weight..." I looked back at Tahata, who was following behind me looking straight down at the ground. "Tahata-senpai." He looked up and I smiled. "Have some confidence." He nodded and caught up to me to walk beside me.

I walked in the back room. There was a pitching net and two crates of baseballs beside each other. I walked to my bag I had hidden for my midnight practices. I pulled catcher's equipment out and walked over to Tahata. I helped him put on the gear. "Right or left." He seemed slightly uncomfortable. "I'm right handed." I handed him a left handed glove and started his training.

It was about 11PM now and Tahata was starting to get tired. "That was good work Tahata-senpai, now there's one last thing to do before we leave. I need you to catch 3 of each of my pitches. Remember the signs I told you and where the glove should be positioned. Also keep in mind how fast your reflexes have to be. I won't hold back okay?" He nodded confidently. Good, he's alot more comfortable around me now that I've helped him and joked around with him.

I smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up as he got into position. I taught him the way I was taught, so it was kind of awkward to think about it, since his position was a mirror image. "The first one coming is a changeup, I'm going to ease in with the speed, but know it's still going to be fast so be ready." He nodded. I slipped my own glove on and he threw me a ball. I positioned my hand for a changeup and began my wind-up. To my surprise Tahata caught the ball. "Nice catch!"

We wrapped up our late night practice at around Midnight. "Okay I'll see you at the game tomorrow Tahata-senpai!" I waved him off and walked out of the training center. I wasn't going to the dorms yet since I hadn't showered. I grabbed my towel out of my bag and walked towards the showers. I looked inside, checking that no one was there. The showers were empty. I walked in and stripped down. I slipped into the bath and soaked for a few minutes. Then the door opened. Someone stepped inside, which caused me to freeze and turn my head. "..." It was Kuramochi.

Kuramochi turned around so his back was to me after screaming slightly, which made me jump. I quickly got out dried off and threw my clothes on, including my bindings of course. I hadn't dried my hair because of how fast I had to get dried off. "Sa-Satōshi... Y-you're a..." I nodded. "Please don't tell anyone. Not many people know and I don't want my secret getting out..." He was very red. "So you weren't just a trap all this time... Heh... I'll keep your secret, but can I ask what your real name is, Satōshi?" I looked at him. "It's Nanairō Nakatomi." He nodded, still red. He was rubbing his neck nervously. "But why Baseball and not Softball..."

I sighed at the question. "When I was 4, I wanted to play Baseball with the former Alumni of this very school, who became my teachers up until my first year of highschool, but I got rejected by the neighborhood boys. So I cut my hair and started wearing more boyish clothes and went by Satō. I trained with the alumni in every position they knew was good for me... The only position I've never trained in is right field. Ever since then, I've been acting as a boy." Kuramochi was staring at me in awe by the time I finished. "So you haven't dressed as a girl in your school life at all...?" I shook my head. "No. I've dressed as a boy this whole time."

Kuramochi's face turned slightly red. "So you've never dated because of it...?" I nodded. "Who all knows?" I started thinking about who all knew. "You, Ji-Yūko, Shunpeī, Azuma, my family and the witch: aka Nahī." He nodded. "I promise I'll keep your secret safe!" He was slightly red. I grinned and put him in a headlock while walking out of the showers. I pressed my knuckles into his skull as I messed up his hair. "Kyahaha!" Kuramochi escaped and we started wrestling, which I proudly won. "Such strength should not be in small bodies, Kyaha!"

I seperated from Kuramochi at my turn to go to my dorm and waved goodbye. I walked to my room but noticed the light was on and the door was cracked. I pushed the door open. "Who's in here?" Miyuki stood from his seat on my bed. "Satōshi-" I looked at him with my arms crossed before putting everything neatly in my bag, not bothering to respond. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have snapped at you." I turned my head to look at him and stopped what I was doing. "Leave. I'm not angry. But I need to sleep for the game tomorrow morning." He frowned. Of course I was angry, and I would take it out on the ballfield. I pushed him out of the door and quickly shut the door and locked it to keep him out.

I woke up the next morning energetic and ready to go. Today was the day I was going to show up the starting regulars. I was getting ready quickly when someone knocked on my door. "Yes? Who is it?" There was brief silence before Tahata-senpai mumbled out a response. "It-ts T-Tahata. The others sent me to get you..." I smiled at his timidity and opened the door when I was done changing and walked out with my ball bag. "Well, let's go then!" He briskly nodded and we were off.

We arrived at the field and approached the mingling second stringers. "Senpais, are you all ready?" They all nodded with a grin and playfully made actions to make our buddy-buddy atmosphere amplify as well as our team atmosphere. "Let's go then!" We all ran in the dugout. I grabbed my glove out of my bag after setting it on the bench. One of the third years ran by and everyone was running out playfully shouting, all happy. I laughed at their joy even though we had a tough game coming in half an hour. I admired their courage. I felt two sets of eyes on my back, one belonging to Kuramochi and the other to Miyuki. I smirked at the starters' focus on me. Little too early for that. I started to run after stretching and the 2nd string 3rd years jumped in, cheering and forcing themselves to keep up.

Tahata and I were in the bullpen when the starters' batteries all walked in. They had three sets. What? How many pitchers do you need to go against second string? They were each pitching differently, which made me realize what they were planning to do about me and my batting. Clever, but can they all last with me in the box? I smirked and looked at Tahata, who gulped. I pulled myself up the mound and wound up, but I did something different to make the pitch come across slower than the slowest of the starter pack. I also grabbed my shoulder like I was injured, making Tahata rush over. "Nakatomi-kun! Are you okay?" I nodded and winked at him with the eye out of view from the starters. "I can still pitch, let's go sit with the others." I walked out holding my shoulder with Tahata. I felt a set of eyes on my back. You're too curious for your own good, snake. I hope that scared you.

We were all lined up infront of the Starters and each side bowed, before rushing off to our respective dugouts. I did so while holding my left shoulder. My teammates were all worried as I put on my helmet and batting gloves while grabbing my bat. I waited for my teammates ahead of me to attempt their roles given last night. I was batting fourth, as appointed by the rest of the team. I trusted my teammates as only one of them got on base and the other two were stopped by Furuya and Miyuki. I walked out and stood in the left batter's box. "You're crazy to play with a jacked shoulder." I ignored him and got in my batting position. "Tell your pitcher to bring it." My teammate in the warm-up circle snorted in laughter.

Miyuki sent Furuya the signal. "There's no way he'll hit off of Furuya with a jacked shoulder." The first baseman mumbled. On the contrary, I'm not as weak as you think. I watched Furuya wind up and deliver, the ball coming through really high. "Ball!" I dug my feet into the dirt and Furuya wound up the next pitch. Perfect, heads up center field! I swung and drove the ball straight over the back fence. I seemed to have shocked Furuya with my clean Homerun off of him. A sharp soreness made my shoulder ache, but I didn't let it affect me. "Your shoulder is perfectly fine?" Miyuki looked at me in disbelief. "Yeah, you could say that." I might as well pull through until the end of the game, no use in telling him my shoulder is being strained too much.

I returned to the dugout and set my equipment down and took off my helmet and then I sat down. "Your shoulder, you weren't batting like you were yesterday, what happened? I smiled at Tahata and rubbed my neck. "Ah, you got me. I strained my arm too much this week and when I faked that slow pitch my arm followed through awkwardly, causing inflammation." He nodded. "Please don't overwork yourself Nakatomi-kun." I smiled and nodded as I grabbed my glove. This is going to be a long game...

Our 5th batter struck out, which was okay, he just needed to keep the circuit flowing. I walked to the pitcher's mound as the starters cleared the field. Tahata threw me the ball, which I caught easily. First batter was Ryosuke. I looked into the crowd of Alumni and there he was: a wide-eyed Azuma. I'll make sure I get my point across from all the way down here: Nanairō Nakatomi is no push over! Tahata gave me a call and I complied with it, winding up and stretching the whole way down the mound and scraping the ground with my fingertips.

I felt a sharp pain the whole way through my upper arm, but the ball went where I commanded it to go: straight into Tahata's glove (aka my glove) for strike one. The glove was smoking and Tahata was slightly farther away than he started. I clenched my jaw and lifted my right arm, catching the ball. I bit my lip as pain shot through my whole left arm and shoulder. I tasted blood and I began to wind up for my next pitch, which Tahata called to be a Forkball. I delivered what he asked for perfectly, but the growing tension in my arm was starting to make me bust out in a cold sweat. It was strike two. I will do this for these people. I won't give in. I threw a changeup like I was asked, but before I realized it, the ball hurdles straight into my left shoulder, making me yelp. I used the closeness with the ball to catch it before it hit the ground and fired it to first base, who barely caught it.

"That's an out right?" I asked coach as my teammates rushed towards me while I was holding my shoulder. He nodded. Tahata rushed forward to check on me. "Satōshi-kun? Are you okay?" I nodded with a smile. "My shoulder, it's throbbing." They all seemed alarmed. "It's just because I overworked my arm, this is only a five inning event, I'll survive."

The rest of the game was well blurred over, but we did win 5-0. The only hit was that in the first inning, but I did hit Ryosuke and Jun on one occasion each, which did them no justice since they were out on steals. "Tahata-senpai, here. You should take the game ball. You did very well. Along with everyone else." I smiled at all of them. They all laughed and smiled. "Satōshi. Coach needs you." I turned back and saw Miyuki and Kuramochi, each wearing a grin despite getting their butts kicked. "Yeah, okay." I waved the third years off and walked over to the partners in crime. "So how did getting your butt kicked by your former pitcher feel?" Miyuki smirked. "Don't you mean current?" I smirked back. "What are you talking about? Tahata-senpai just learned how to catch yesterday and is already better than you. I'm considering making him my main catcher." Miyuki sighed. "Don't even joke about that." I grinned. "Who's joking? I was serious, as the pitcher's wife, he's better." Kuramochi laughed obnoxiously. Miyuki pouted as the three of us made our way to the coach's office.

"Nakatomi-san, I am moving you up to first string after all your hard work. Provided you keep it up you can stay. That's all." I bowed and left, "Thank you sir." When I walked out, someone grabbed me by the left shoulder, causing me to choke down a sharp cry. I looked over and noticed Nahī smirking before she leaned next to my ear. "Don't know how you'll get out of the camp with your secret still intact, sister. When they find out I'll be there to make sure to finish you off." She pressed her thumb into my shoulder with her long nails to make it hurt worse. The sharp cry I choked down before emerged from my mouth and I tried to pry her hand away from my shoulder. "What? Does this hurt?" She gripped my shoulder tighter and dug her thumb in deeper. "Stop! Please!" She only laughed. "You've been my punching bag my whole life, why stop now?-" Suddenly the pressure on my shoulder disappeared.

"That's enough don't you think?" I shivered at the threatening tone. I knew exactly who it was. "Who are you to interfere Kazuya? You have no say in a conversation between siblings!" I was on the ground clutching my left shoulder weakly before I realized what was going on. "You're purposely hurting your brother. Don't you realize you might be ruining his future by messing up his shoulder?" She laughed. "You must be stupid. Of course I do! Because my dear "brother" deserves it! I'm the favorite in our family and now he's getting all the attention because he won't do what Mommy and Daddy say! Why can't you just go to the Academy to become an Onmyōji like they told you to! You just had to give up your future for Baseball didn't you!" Smack! "Shut your mouth and leave your brother alone. Come on, Satōshi." He made me stand up with an uncertain gentleness as he avoided my shoulder.

He led me straight to my room and opened the door, pulling me in by the wrist and pushing me down in my seat while he rolled up my sleeve. "How long has your shoulder been this jacked up?" I stared at the ground. "Yesterday..." I was still startled by how she was threatening me with my position on the team, friendships and the school I'd have to go to if things went her way. "Was it jacked up this bad when you were playing today?" I nodded. He sighed. "You need to be more responsible with yourself, what would have happened if it was beyond repair? Your career would be ruined. Look at me! Stop being so reckless!" He had grabbed me by the chin and made me look at him. I just stared at him trying to hide the fact that I wanted to cry. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't leave them all hanging, I had a responsibility so I endured the pain and discomfort..."

He sighed and let go of my chin and dug in my cabinet for the medicine I used on my previous injury. It's lucky I moved my midol into my nightstand. "Here it is." He pulled out the soothing creme and squirted some on his hand. He rolled my sleeve up all the way and gently made sure the creme covered the entire injury area. He started rubbing in the soothing creme, making me tense up with a shiver before relaxing. His calloused fingers worked their way through the red, black and blue area smoothly, making the tensed muscle relaxers as he made his way to my shoulder blade. His rough hands were once again strangely relieving.

"How did you hurt yourself this badly?" I looked at him, finally calm. "Ah, yesterday when I was teaching one of the third years tricks for fielding in the outfield effectively, the batter hit a foul ball too close to the fence bar and I jumped to catch it. I did catch it, but I slammed into the bar by the shoulder. It got worse when Kominato one hit that line drive into my shoulder and when I twisted it awkwardly on accident on the bullpen." He sighed. "You're like a clumsy girl trying to do ballet." I gulped. Well you're not far off. "Please be careful, your arm decides your future." I stared at him.

"What's with you sighing so much today? Are you finally out of practical jokes?" He grinned. "Ooh! You must want to be the next target of one." I shook my head. "No no no-no!" He laughed and looped his arm over my shoulders. "My dear buddy Satōshi, won't you help me in my schemes?" I rapidly shook my head no. "Nope! Last time I helped you repayed me with pie in the face. In the middle of math class. Kuramochi is my preferred partner in crime." Miyuki leaned his head closer to mine in a weird way. "Pleaseeeee~ I'll do it in English this time I promise!" I turned my head to look at him for a second before I realized how close he was to me. It seems he realized at the same time, since his face turned Scarlet, and so did mine. We both were at the opposite sides of the bed in a split second. "J-jeez what's with that face..." I coughed and tried to clear up my throat and hide my embarrassment. "Yeah, you're definitely a trap."

I snorted at his remark. "You're the one who got in my face. Stupid Kazuya." I folded my arms. "Stupid Satōshi." I cut my eyes at him as he lied down on my bed. "Excuse me sir, this isn't your room. There's a reason there's only one bed in here." He closed his eyes and acted like he was asleep, so I grabbed my pillow and smacked him in the face with it, which made him grunt. There was a knock at the door interrupting our stare down. I walked over to the door and opened it. In rushed half of first string, filling my room to the limits. "..." I sighed. "I guess everyone decided my dorm is their new hotspot?"

"Kuramochi hurry and plug in the console!"

"I'm working on it, sit in the corner and eat your pudding ya jerk."

"Who will play me in shogi first?"

"Honestly, you suck at shogi."

"Miyuki move your butt, I need that pillow."

"Miyuki Kazuya! Catch my pitch!"

It was literally a zoo of weirdo baseball players, who were invading my space. Two more people came limping through the doors, both easily identified as Kominato number one and Spitz. They each had injuries to their legs after a skillful dead all to the knee. I said nothing about it as the entire zoo was in my room. What would a few more predators hurt? They were all hunched around the TV and we're watching a baseball game. I sighed and sat on my bed, giving up. My room was in chaos. I grabbed a book and started reading it paying no regard to the calamity. I was reading and I started fading into sleep.

• • • • •

Sorry for the extremely long gap. It's a little shorter than usual too, sorry! 😫