A/N: This has been a much anticipated project for me. I was planning on doing it at the beginning of Winter Quarter, and things happened so it took a while. I finally have it up now, even though it's the end of WQ. UGH. Too much energy went into the thought process of this fic for me to put it off, but college is a bitch.
Anyway, this is a big challenge - I haven't written a multi-chaptered fic in forever and it's focusing on a character with very little character development. Oh well, I'm up for the challenge, I guess. No guarantees, but I'm hoping this is up by Anime Central 2010. Knightskye and I are cosplaying Kanako and Tami. If you're going, you should remember this fic and find us. winkwinkknudgeknudge
Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't waste your time with lawsuits - I don't own Princess Nine.
Just Pretend
Daddy's little girl falls for a bad boy. Desperate to be with him, she drops her label as a good girl and lets her other side gradually take over. Can the Kisaragi girls bring their shortstop back to reality before she loses herself to a few tubes of lipstick and a green wig?
Chapter 1 – Opposites Attract
His red convertible is parked at the hill. He could see the city lights shining bright as ever from the driver's seat, but he is not paying attention. He fumbles with his keys and the radio, cursing at his car for not cooperating with him on this important date. She, on the other hand, stares blissfully at the colorful lights as they combat the stars to show which shines brighter. A prisoner in her own home, she realizes how she's never seen the city lights from a distance.
Her focus is pushed away as he reclines the passenger's seat as far as it goes. Her seatbelt clicks open and, soon enough, all she can see are his eyes, an even bigger threat to the shining stars and city lights. He cracks his signature smirk, causing butterflies to erupt in her stomach as buttons fly open. In a matter of minutes, nothing with a button is covering either of them. They lie alone, lit only by the moon, the streetlamps, and cityscape behind them.
"The city looks so bright from here," she sighs, looking past his muscular shoulder as far as she can. His gaze follows, his head nodding in agreement. He turns back to her, staring at the way her face lights up when she smiles, the way her green eyes still shine behind the large frames of her glasses. Her hand makes its way to his collar, their skin tones contrasting even in the dim lighting.
He pushes her back down to the chair, placing his knees on both sides of her lap, bringing his face mere inches away from hers. "S'all for you, Princess." He takes her glasses away, sets them on the dashboard so they can still reflect the lights of the city, spits out his toothpick, and moves in closer. The kiss is soft, gentle – incredibly unlike the boy, but all for her in the long run. When they break, her green eyes shine more than anything. "Kanako…" he calls, sweetly, causing her to smile once more.
She leans back in for another kiss, but hears him say her name instead. He moves away every time she goes forward. "Kanako…" he calls again, confusing her by his actions.
By the time she sits fully upright, he's gone, leaving her alone in his car, with nothing but the moon, the streetlamps, and the city lights below.
"KANAKO!"
Kanako sat upright in her bed, sweat trickling down her forehead, eyes wide. She glanced to her right to read the time - 7:45 AM. Her mind in panic mode, she stumbled out of bed, tangled in her bed sheets and broken dreams. "I'm up, dad! I'll be down soon!" she called to her father from behind the door. His grunting and footsteps were heard from her bed, even as she freed herself from its clutches.
She threw on her school uniform, taking the extra minutes to make sure every bit of fabric was tugged at the right place, free of wrinkles or imperfections. Her bow was impeccably tied as she was never one to fumble, even when late. Her glasses were left last as her finishing touch. Able to see again, she stared into the mirror before her and sighed. "Well, Kanako," she spoke to herself, "you can't let yourself mess up the rest of today."
She gently ran down the stairs, encountering her father brewing tea in the kitchen. Before he was able to pour the tea himself, she gracefully grabbed the teapot from the stove. "It's okay, dad, I can pour it for you," she said with a smile on her face.
Principal Mita scratched his head as he watched his daughter pour his morning tea. "You know, you don't need to do everything for me when you're still half asleep, dear," he told her, accepting the cup of tea.
Kanako shook her head. "No, it's really nothing, dad. I'm always willing to help." She smiled yet again, reassuring him everything was okay before skipping off to grab the newspaper and the rest of his breakfast. However, by the time her father was situated, the clock hit 8 o'clock. She grabbed a small scone, slipped on her shoes, and headed for the door when she heard her name called once again.
"Kanako," Principal Mita started, standing up for a split second to talk to his daughter, "You really don't have to rush. You're not as late as you think you are."
She turned back around and walked to her father. "I have practice today. Ryo says I have to be punctual." She kissed her father on the forehead and dashed off towards the door. "I'll see you later, dad!"
"Kana–" But she was gone by the time he could call her again. Principal Mita sighed. "Those baseball girls are rubbing off on her," he said to himself as he shook his head. "Oh well. Whatever makes her happy."
The practice room was filled with idle chatter from all of the girls as captain Ryo Hayakawa tried to call role. It was a point in the season where the girls were bored of being ordered around by the star pitcher and went back to their initial near-barbaric approach of ignoring her and going about their own business. Unfortunately for Ryo, Nene was also no help. No one listened to her either. Koharu and Izumi were sectioned by themselves, talking about the classes they shared together. Seira and Yoko were arguing as they did every day, with Mao holding the two apart so they would not legitimately fight. Hikaru and Yuki sat together, discussing the men of their sister school.
Eventually, Ryo had enough. "Okay, guys, I'm calling role! I'm going by jersey numbers today!" She rolled her eyes to the sound of "Nobody cares!" coming from Izumi's direction and looked off her clipboard to take attendance. "Okay, I'm here. Two… Mao!"
"Here!"
"Hikaru!"
"I'm always here, Ryo! You know this!"
"Hey, whadya skipping me for?" the red head exploded.
"Seira, we're going by numbers, remember?" Koharu calmly reminded, reclining on her chair.
"Geez, this gets changed every time we do role…"
"Seira's obviously here… Izumi!"
"First one here, as always."
As Ryo searched her clipboard for number six, Kanako showed up at the doorstep. "Kanako!"
"Present!" the shortstop called, startling the pitcher. "Sorry I'm late!"
"Oh, no problem!" Ryo reassured. "Yuki!"
"Here."
"Koharu!"
"Yup!"
"Yoko!"
"Here!"
"I guess everyone's here!" Ryo exclaimed, setting the clipboard down. "So, as soon as Kanako gets dressed, we should all go out and practice!"
Izumi smacked her hand to her head. "That's usually why we come here every morning," she sighed, dodging the daggers Ryo stared at her.
As the rest of the team bickered and conversed amongst themselves, Kanako slipped into the changing room. Her hard work into getting her school uniform perfect became in vain as she removed it for practice. While she changed, she thought back on the dream she had the previous night. There was no denying it – this was not the first dream she had like this. She regretted having them, wished she would not have them so she could focus on the team, her schoolwork, everything on which she had focused until now. Instead, all that came to mind was a boy, a car, and the city lights.
Her life was no secret. She lived a sheltered life, alone with a father that controlled the way she thought, the way she saw, and, ultimately, the way she lived. She had never seen the city lights at night from a distance. She had never been in a car with anyone other than her father. She had never been in love, like two of her teammates. As much as she adored her father and would never sacrifice her family for anything in the world, Kanako had reached the point in her life where she wanted adventure. She wanted experience. She wanted to live a little bit more.
She made it out onto the field, clad in her baseball uniform. Everyone was out in their positions, Koharu at home plate for fielding practice. Kanako reached the short stop position and readied herself for the ball when the girls heard a gaggle of thuggish cackling approach the fence.
The boys of Hori Private stood behind the fence around them, their eyes gawking at every single girl on the field. Their idiotic laughter intoxicated the field, causing nearly every girl to scoff in disgust. The girls could feel each boy picking them out for whatever their sick minds wanted, wanting to ignore them but unable to avoid feeling violated.
The pitcher, Yano, placed his hand on the fence, shaking it harshly. "Well, well, if it ain't the cute little Kisaragi princesses practicin' to play with the big boys. Isn't that sweet?" A cocky laugh erupted from the muscular brute, echoed by the thugs behind him. "Why don't you girlies drop your little games and come take a ride with us?"
Ryo spun around on the pitcher's mound and shouted, "We're here to actually successfully play this year, not to screw around with a bunch of creeps like you!"
The boys cried in sarcastic terror before laughing hysterically yet again. One member stepped forward, his eye on second base. "Hey, Morimura! Do you run at night? 'Cause I see you sprinting 'round my head every night in my dreams!" He hooted, causing the sprinter's blood to boil faster by the second.
"Oh, trust me, bub," Seira started, getting ready to run over to the fence, "you don't wanna see me running at night!" The other girls warned Seira not to get too involved as the next thug approached the fence.
"Yoshimoto, I heard you're good with both hands!" another boy hollered, enraging the first baseman.
"Ugh! Switch-hitter jokes are the worst!" Hikaru exclaimed, pulling her hand into a fist. "I'll make sure you find out how well I can hit with both hands!"
"Himuro, I dig the noises you make when you hit them balls!" Another one cooed at Izumi, who just shook her head in slight embarrassment.
"Hey, Hotta!" yet another boy called out. "Let me handle that big instrument. I'll show you the real way to use it!"
Koharu just stood there, shaking her head slightly. "Wouldn't you just love to," she whispered, trying to ignore the images dancing in her head.
The other girls got ready to attack or hide, depending on the personality. Kanako, however, just stood there, staring straight at their captain. She would never admit the attraction she had toward him and even to that day, she could never understand why. What made this brute so intriguing? Why does he keep appearing in her thoughts and dreams? Why does he seem so different in her head than he does in real life?
"Hey, little Mita."
Midway through her thoughts, she caught his hidden eye staring right at her. She jumped slightly as he started to talk to her.
"Why don't you grow up outta daddy's house and come play with the grown ups? I'm sure we could have a good time," Yano flirted, winking slightly at her through the shadows of his eye socket. Kanako stood still, frozen, unsure of what to say back to him. As she tried opening her mouth to respond, a drunken roar came out behind them.
"What're you girls doing? Stop paying attention to them and keep practicing!" Coach Kido commanded. The other girls willfully and gladly turned around, praising their coach for the first time as he pulled them away from the harassing bullies.
As Hori private's laughter drowned out in the distance, however, Kanako was still standing somewhere between right and center field, several feet away from her position. Part of her wanted to walk with them, to join them, but she could not. Upon hearing her name, she slowly walked back to her position close to Seira.
"Those bastards scare you, Kanako?" Seira inquired. "You seem kinda out of it."
Kanako quietly shook her head. Technically, in a way, they did scare her. He scared her. However, he scared her enough to intrigue her, enough to attract her. But she could never tell anyone how she felt, let alone someone as scary and intimidating as Seira Morimura. She had already done the same deed to Kanako in the past.
The shortstop straightened her glasses and waited for Kido to hit the ball to her. Her day had a rough start already. She was late due to a dream, that had haunted her for so long, about a guy about whom she felt she was not allowed to dream. She was approached by said guys and became surrounded by a sea of negative energy. There was legitimately nothing more that could go wrong with the day, and Kanako intended on keeping it that way.
The ball went to shortstop and she caught it with ease. Luckily, there was always baseball to keep her mind off of how opposites attract and how she needed to grow up someday soon.