Fly By Night

by CFenrir

Stars stay bright like a filament's first time.

Disclaimer: All rights reserved by 07th Expansion.

Fly by Night
A Higurashi Story

Keiichi sighed.

The midsummer night didn't provide any relief from the day. The air was just as warm and the bright lights at the practice field felt just like sunlight. He was sweating before he even picked up the bat, long before he trudged to the rickety, old pitching machine on the mound. With a flip of the switch, it came to life and, with a mechanical wheeze, it started hurling balls hard enough to leave a bruise or worse.

The trip back to home plate was not for the faint of heart. The machine wasn't equipped with a delay, and the balls had a tendency to deviate so he patiently backed away from the machine. He took his time walking backwards and his caution was rewarded when he dodged a ball that would have surely hit him if he had his back turned.

Once he was sure that he wasn't in danger of being killed by a stray pitch, Keiichi loosened up with a few swings. He then stepped towards home plate and took his place in the batter's box. He let the first pitch go by. There was no rush. The machine had plenty of gas, the bag was filed, and he made sure it was oiled. He could afford to wait on the pitches he wanted so he did.

A ball came up short and rolled between his legs, and the one that followed went high overhead. Keiichi decided, abruptly, that the next pitch was his. He tightened his grip, bits of the remaining athletic tape on the handle embedding itself into his palms as he stared the machine down. The pitch arrived and he swung. And the ball drifted right under the bat. It was a mean slider, a pitch only a professional or a halfway broken machine could throw.

"Damn it…"

Didn't they just make fun of him for doing that? For deciding to swing before he even saw the pitch? If he focused on the ball instead of willing himself to hit, he would have put it over the fence for sure.

The batter took a deep breath and readied himself for the next pitch. But it was already on the way. He panicked and swung with all his might, all the power he put behind his effort causing him to spin his way out of the box and across the plate. He tripped in ridiculous fashion, spinning all the way to the ground and landing hard enough to stir up a small cloud of dust.

Embarrassing wasn't enough to describe it. He was lucky. If someone saw him he would have been mortified, but the benefit of practicing at night was that no one was around to laugh at his folly.

"Bwa… Bwahahaha!"

Keiichi paled, the raucous laughter exploding from behind giving good reason to not be so hasty with getting back up. It was the kind of laugh that couldn't be held back, the kind of laugh people didn't even try to contain. He looked through the dissipating dust and only saw pink. It was hair, he realized, that belonged to the woman that laughed at him from outside the fence.

"You really suck!" She clung to the fencing to keep her from doubling over. "This can't be for real, right?"

"Shut up!" Keiichi scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off. "I just got caught off guard!" He brought his shoulder to his chin and scrubbed his face against his sleeve to get the dirt off his face. "The pitch curved on me and my feet got tangled when-"

"Excuses, excuses." She pushed the gating open and walked onto the field. The sputtering machine never stopped pitching, but she continued undaunted. "I don't care. You suck, and you won't ever hit anything like that."

At first, he was grateful.

If one of his friends saw him, it would have been the meager beginnings of a joke that wouldn't die. Thankfully, there was no way a stranger would be spreading any stories around in class. The penalty of losing most of the club games was enough for him. As embarrassing as it was to be seen looking so stupid, it was one thing to poke some fun, but she actively insulted him.

"Who are you?"

Keiichi knew full well he would have laughed if he saw someone go down like that, too, but coming out of nowhere and saying he sucked offended him. He actually thought of himself as relatively decent. More than that, he only played for fun. No one was trying to make it into the big leagues or anything, but who was she to pop up and say that he sucked?

"The name's Rina." Rina bent to pick up the bat he dropped, and took up a stance in the box. "Just watch, kid. Try to mirror what I do."

"Haha," was she serious? "Why would I-"

The crack of the bat meeting the ball was unique. It sounded like a gun going off, a wild shot in the dark without the muzzle flare, but that was just noise. What she heard was the sound of chance, something that echoed in the heart of competition.

The ball flew, ever upwards, beyond the bright lights and into the darkness beyond. It was more than a home run. It was a ball he'd probably never find in the bushes outside the fence. It was his jaw dropping so low that it hurt, and it was a mischievous smirk from the woman that was just warming up.

"Look."

Rina tensed her shoulders before relaxing them, and shifted her weight to her back foot. The pitching machine wheezed and sputtered, the only warning that a ball was on the way. It spat out what looked like an inside fastball, and she swung. The bat made contact and the baseball made a home in the outfield.

"You need to stop gripping the bat so hard," she explained, letting a ball whiz between them as she showed him her hold on the bat. "If you're too tight up top, it doesn't matter how well you use your hips. Don't be afraid to widen your stance, either. It helps you dig into the swing a lot deeper."

A ball barely missed his leg, but Keiichi was too stunned to move, much less speak.

He knew talented girls. Rena, for one, was a natural at everything she tried. She didn't practice. She was just good, and that was just the way talent worked. Rina was obviously more than talented so, just like she requested, he observed.

She checked her swing, halting it, as another ball headed in his direction. He didn't have the right angle to see catch her expression, but he watched her closely. He noticed her outfit when he first saw her, a tube top that matched her hair and a skirt so short that he didn't dare let his eyes come close to the hemline. It was revealing, so much so that he could feel a blush breaking out across his face, but she showed him what she wanted him to see. She flexed her bare shoulders, shrugging before relaxing them and widening her stance in preparation for the ball. The bat was raised. The pitch came. She swung, and sent another ball into the shrubbery beyond the fence.

There was no doubt it.

"You're incredible…" A swing that natural, that smooth, was something honed. Talent alone wasn't capable of crafting something like that. She was a professional. "Do you play for a team or something?"

"I wish." Rina liked the praise, but her tone made him think otherwise. "I used to play, but that was a long time ago."

She swung, but the pitch caught the side of the bat. It was a pop up. The ball was launched into the air, and floated until it stalled. It dropped only a few feet away from the pitching machine.

"Clearly not that long ago…"

"Ha," she pulled the bat back and took a few practice swings before the next ball arrived, "don't believe this is anything special. Hitting pitches from a machine is like playing against the computer in a video game. People are crafty and conniving."

"I still think you're pretty amazing, really."

The ball passed them by and hit the fencing behind them. She didn't check her swing. She didn't swing at all.

Rina lowered the bat. Narrowed, honey-brown eyes searched his face for anything to clue her in, anything to let her see what kind of game he was trying to play. She was naturally suspicious. He was just a kid, but people only tried to butter her up for one reason, and one reason only.

"Listen-"

"You could become a batting coach or something somewhere if—No! You could come coach at the school! We could have a real baseball team!" She made eye contact with him and only saw stars. There were no ulterior motives. No ogling of her body. He looked her in the eye when he spoke to her. "Oh my god… If you taught the other boys how to bat we'd never lose to the girls…"

It was refreshing.

She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had a conversation that wasn't about illegal shit. When was the last time she spoke to someone about baseball? The last time she talked to someone about something she actually enjoyed?

"Ahh!" Keiichi reached his arms out above his head and stretched before starting his trek to the mound. "I have to get back before dinner or I'll be in trouble," he didn't want to risk getting hit so he spoke without turning around. "I'll pick up the balls around here and get the ones farther out tomorrow. You can just leave the bat there if you're finished."

"Oh? Uh…" Rina blinked. "I'm good. Just leave it on, I'll turn it off when I'm done…"

Zoning out was the last thing you wanted to do in front of a machine throwing balls at you, but she was taken back. He was trusting her just like that?

"Alright," Keiichi pointed to the far side of the field to the generator outside the fencing, "don't forget to turn off the lights before you leave or sensei will kill me."

Rina nodded, briefly watching him halt his walk to the mound and turn back towards her. He waved goodbye as he dashed off the field, smiling all the while. He was cheerful, and way too trusting of someone he literally met less than an hour ago.

It wouldn't take more than a couple of minutes for her to round up a few guys, and haul away everything they could put their hands on. He could come back tomorrow, all their shit could be gone, and all he'd have to go on was a stage name.

"Thanks for the lesson, Rina!"

His impromptu coach risked a look over her shoulder, but he was already gone, already claimed by the night. She turned her attention back to the machine and it pitched. It was a curveball, an obnoxious pitch that she didn't think she could possibly hate more than any other. It broke to the side like it was being pulled by a string, but she swung before it turned. She dipped her elbow to dig into the swing and was rewarded with a solid whack.

She didn't watch where the ball went.

Her pager started to beep, the mechanical staccato serving as an ominous omen for potential victims, but she didn't bother checking it. She let the pager vibrate in her pocket as she readied herself for the next pitch. The familiar reunion sent the ball airborne, but, again, she didn't think to search for it in the night sky. She was in the zone, and she was… happy.

Rina could feel the loopy smile on her face, and she felt silly because of it. She was playing ball again, and the only thing that could possibly be better was playing in a game.

The pager started beeping again, and, though the vibration on her ass was annoying, she didn't motion to check or even turn it off. She didn't waste a movement or a moment. If it didn't have anything to do with the ball coming at her, it didn't matter.

Still, an idle thought lingered.

"He was a good kid…"

0

"I… I can't…" Rina buried her face in the grass and pounded the standing green flat. Every laugh was torture on her body, every attempt to regain her composure an exercise in vain. Tears fell freely and she couldn't breathe, but she didn't care. "I'm gonna die like this…"

"C'mon, Rina…" Keiichi rubbed the back of his head, and the frilly headband nearly fell off. "Even the girls didn't laugh that hard."

"Let me take a picture and I swear to God I'll give you some free lessons." She flopped onto her back, and didn't dare look in his direction. That was probably the best laugh she ever had in her life. "Better yet, let me hire you to clean my apartment."

"Good thing I didn't put on the full outfit or you probably would have died for real." French Maid Keiichi quickly worked his way out of the dress and took off the headband. For Rina, he just wore it over his uniform. For the penalty game, he couldn't help but go all out. "Yeah, I don't think you're ready for the stockings and high heels yet."

"You're the best." Rina doubted she could even find it in herself to laugh anymore. "When I asked you to bring one of those penalty game outfits, I didn't know you'd put it on."

It was another late evening meeting at the baseball field.

Keiichi took the time to properly fold the dress before laying it on the bleachers. He used his hand to sweep the dust away before sitting down, and waited for his batting coach to join him. Rina opted instead to stay right where she laid and turned her attention to the full moon.

They didn't need to turn the lights on with the radiance of the moon upon them, but the ambiance changed and nostalgia claimed her. When the lights were on and the fans were there, it was a battlefield. The season was war and every game was a fight filled to the brim with skirmishes between batter and hitter, between runner and basemen, and, definitely, between coaches.

She absolutely loved it, though.

The thrill of the game was a high that no drug could match. The roar of the fans was addictive, especially when it got loud at away games. Nothing beat stepping to the plate with bat in hand, though. There was nothing like it. When she stood in that box and put bat on ball, it felt like all was well with the world.

"It's a lot different with the lights off, huh?"

Rina nodded, her memories muted by melancholy. She closed her eyes and indulged in the feeling of the grass beneath her. It was her pregame ritual, something she did to calm her nerves before she went into the dugout. It was odd, she knew that much, but it gave her peace of mind. She let thoughts of the past fade and focused on the present.

What was she doing?

Playing with Keiichi was the best fun she had since college, but she wasn't a kid anymore. She had to go to work, yet she was already twenty minutes late for her shift at the club. There were, at least, four people waiting for her to setup some deals for them, and, worst of all, she made the stupid mistake of being seen in public with a mark.

She was slipping up.

That much was no secret. Normally, she would have been at the club two hours early with her feet on top of the desk sorting through Polaroid pictures to decide which girls had the honor of performing a little community service on the side. People would have the product they wanted yesterday. She would have already slept with the poor sap, and played the pregnancy card so fast that he would have started feeling sick in the morning.

"Here."

Rina sat up, freeing herself from the embrace of the field, and grabbed the glove that landed next to her. Keiichi was way ahead her. He jogged onto the field and went deep into the outfield. Even without the lights on, even with the passing clouds occasionally making it tough to see, playing catch wouldn't be too hard.

They weren't going to be that far away from each other, and he did specifically ask her to show him some stuff aside from batting. Keiichi waited for moonlight to return before tossing her the ball and she didn't need the glove to catch it, "a lot of coaches would tell you something else, but don't be afraid to catch the ball with your throwing hand if you're sure you can do it. You can make a play way faster that way, but, if you commit an error, you'd get benched for sure."

The ball she threw drifted so Keiichi had to jump to catch it. It wasn't a perfect catch. He fumbled the ball around in his glove and almost dropped it, but a catch was a catch. "What position did you play when you were in school?"

"Any." Again, she caught the ball barehanded. "Well, anything other than pitcher or catcher. I guess I played second base the most, but I really didn't care. I only wanted to bat."

"Did you learn from someone else or—Oops!" He ran after the ball that deflected off his glove and picked it up. "Or did you learn on your own?"

"I had to join a club and some of girls I hung with were on the softball team." Redundancy was a part of baseball and playing catch was as routine as breathing. She caught and threw, and she caught and she threw. "It was a bullshit team. We didn't practice hard, and everyone was too busy being a girly girl to commit to the team. We sucked like you did-"

"Hey!"

"And we lost all the time," Rina continued. "I…" Her arms went through the motions, but her mind shifted to a memory she didn't even need to remember. It was always there. The way she felt when she decided to make a change was always with her. "I got tired of it. I got tired of losing. I got tired of the coaches treating us with kid gloves. I got tired of my teammates taking time to make sure they looked good in their uniforms instead of catching the fucking ball. It pissed me off so I just got better."

"Huh!? Just got better!?" She was skipping over too much! "I mean, how?"

Rina shrugged. She knew all along he'd be disappointed with the answer. "I watched pro baseball, practiced in my free time, and read magazines. That's all. I already had a lot of free time so I just practiced every day and, before long, those underhanded pitches were like free homeruns."

"Then you moved over to playing baseball with the boys?" He attempted a barehanded catch and dropped the ball. "You're the only girl I've heard of that ever did something like that."

"Don't get me wrong here. The only reason I earned a scholarship was because my batting average was abnormally high." Rina didn't need the lights on to see it. She could feel the stars in his eyes, the admiration that she never had before. "I always chalked it up to guys getting nervous pitching to me. Anytime we were losing I just got sent out as a pinch hitter, and we'll win. Simple as that."

"You really shouldn't be here, Rina." His expression clouded after he said it. "I mean…" Keiichi paused, gathering his thoughts before he started speaking again. "I like it here. I like Hinamizawa a lot, you're really good."

"Eh…?"

"I was just kidding when I asked you to come coach us, but you really should be doing something with baseball." Keiichi didn't throw the baseball back. "I remember you said something about working at the club, but… I don't know. It's like you don't even realize how awesome you are. I'm really happy you showed up. I'm grateful you play around with me, too, but I feel like you should be in a big city on a big team or something."

No one ever said anything like that to her before.

Ever.

Rina wanted to say something, anything resembling some form of thanks, but her throat felt too dry. Kindness attacked, and speechless took the opportunity to join in. It was the sweetest assault, but she took no offense to it.

"T-Thanks…" She could finally speak. "I, uh… I guess…"

The baseball was caught simply because it was next to her. She wasn't ready for it. A solid decade of experience afforded her the skill to do as much. Nothing prepared her for compliments, though.

Nothing prepared her for Keiichi.

"I know I'm not saying something you haven't heard before, but-"

"No…" It was a soft interruption. "Everybody I know want me to keep doing what I'm doing now…"

"Do you like what you're doing now?"

Rina stared at the baseball she held, and swallowed so hard he probably heard it.

"I hate it."

She wasn't shit before she started playing baseball, and she wasn't shit afterwards. The only time she ever felt like she mattered was when she donned the helmet, took hold of a bat, and stepped to her favorite place to be.

All the drugs? The sex? The money? It didn't matter. All that stuff didn't really do anything except drag her down. She went from potentially being a professional baseball player to being what? A manager of a gentleman's club that served as a front for a prostitution ring? A small time drug dealer? A lazy con-woman that blackmailed at the drop of a hat? She jack of all vices, and a master of some.

"S-Sorry…"

"It's okay." Rina tossed the ball back to him, the iron grip she had on her emotions blocking even the tiniest change in her expression. "It's just work, after all. We all need money, right?"

Keiichi nodded before throwing the ball back, "I guess so."

Pitch and catch, back and forth. He was finally getting a handle on how to catch with his free hand, but the transition from catching to throwing with the same hand proved to be a little difficult with him to deal with.

"You remind me of my coach."

Rina meant to compliment him, to tell him that he was doing okay for someone trying it for the first time, but she messed up. It slipped. He knew she was on a baseball team, so he knew she had a different coaches. She only mentioned them in passing before, but comparison would undoubtedly prompt the inevitable question.

"It sounds kind of backwards, but he sucked," she preempted the question she felt was coming, and shared what she never told anyone before. "His advice was solid, I suppose, but he swung like he was playing golf." She tested him with a harder throw, and he caught it with the glove. "Long story short, he always stayed with me after practice. Like this. Just throwing the ball around, watching my swing, and just giving me tips about baseball in general…"

Keiichi didn't dare interrupt.

"No one ever did anything like that for me before." She waited on him to throw the ball back, but he didn't. He was absorbed by the story. "I say he sucked, but he really did help me a lot. Then he was just gone. Just like that. I never knew how he died, no one ever told me and I really didn't want to know, but, without him around, I kind of just fell off. Shit happened and that's how I ended up here."

Sharing the story was… strangely nice.

It didn't feel like a weight was lifted off her chest, or like a secret was exposed. It was nice to talk about Coach to someone that could understand. The truth was that, Keiichi reminded her of Coach. Not in the sense that he provided any advice, but because he stayed with her.

He cared about her.

"I better get going." Rina took off the glove and did her last throw of the night. "This beeper has been off all day and everyone is probably waiting for me at the club."

"Do you want me to walk over-"

"Nope." She shook her head as she headed towards the gating. "If I ever catch you anywhere near the club, I'll-"

"Punch me so hard in the junk that I'll need crutches," they said it in unison, Keiichi rolling his eyes as he repeated it verbatim. "Yes, I know. You don't want me around the club, but I heard a woman disappeared after the festival and… you know… I just want to make sure you're safe."

"I'm a big girl." His concern was rewarded with a rare smile. "Go home, Keiichi. I'll be okay."

"Alright," he started to collect the stuff he needed to put back into the equipment locker. "Be careful, Rina."

She waved goodbye as she passed third base.

"You, too."

0

On Fridays he had permission to stay out late, so the lights were on and the machine was pitching.

Keiichi squared his shoulders, inhaled, and waited. The pitching machine wheezed before spitting out the ball. It was fast, but it wasn't a real fastball. It started to drift to the side, but he was sure he could get it. He swung and exhaled at once. The bat made contact with the baseball and he smashed it into the sky. It was a homerun, but he made nothing of it. He simply waited on the next pitch, and he batted that into the outfield, too.

Rina was right. It really wasn't hard to hit balls from a machine, and, once you got used to people, it wasn't hard to hit their pitches, either. Miho's pitches always came a little too close, so, if he backed away from the plate a bit, it was much easier to bat against her. Rena was more trouble, but she only threw fastballs. He didn't always win when they played baseball. His efforts alone couldn't carry a team, but there would no way he would lose a penalty game when it came to the sport.

The pitching machine shook a little before sending the next ball, and he sent it back. The baseball bounced off the machine and rolled towards first base. Keiichi sighed. He was wasn't really waiting for the next pitch.

He was waiting on her, but, aside from baseball, she was inconsistent.

There were evenings when she would shout a hello before walking right pass the field. There were evenings she showed up early and stayed until he had to go back home. Sometimes, she came just to make fun of him and left after a good laugh. There was just no way of knowing with her.

The pitching machine sputtered and rattled, but no balls came out. Keiichi lowered the bat. It was either about to throw out two balls back-to-back, or the bag empty. He couldn't remember if he filled the bad earlier or not so he sided on the side of caution. The machine shook for a second before spitting out two balls and he didn't even attempt to hit either. He turned tail and ran. He successfully evaded one, but the other nailed him in the side.

Keiichi grimaced, and angrily tossed the bat aside. It didn't hurt as much as the time when he got hit in the arm, but it still hurt. After double checking to make sure he was well outside of the machine's range, he untucked his shirts and yanked them up to see if he had a new bruise.

A cat call from behind didn't make him forget about his tender side, but it was more than enough to steal his attention. Keiichi rushed up to fencing and frowned at his coach. "How come something stupid usually happens to me whenever you show up?"

"I don't know," Rina shrugged. "If it means anything to you, I was watching before you started running like a little girl. You were looking pretty good up until you got chicken."

"Uh, thanks?" Keiichi wasn't sure if he should feel flattered or offended. "Anyway… I was waiting on you."

"You're such a doofus sometimes, Keiichi. I already told you not to wait up for-"

"For me since I'm a grown woman with real responsibilities," the batter openly mocked her, mimicking her voice as he followed along word by word. "Blah blah blah! I can't believe you actually say that with a straight—Wait!" Her eyebrow twitched, and he saw a vein start to protrude so he got a head start. "C'mon, Rina! You know I was just joking!"

Rina kicked open the gating and the chase was on. Keiichi darted into the outfield with a hand resting on his throbbing side, but she granted him no mercy. His coach easily closed on him, the distance between pursuer and pursued something that was lost early on. She jumped and wrapped her arm around his neck simultaneously, completing the headlock the moment she landed.

"U-Uncle!" He tapped out, the hand the beat on her thigh the signal of defeat. "Uncle!"

"You should know better by now." She gradually let up a little, but she still kept her hold on him. "If you keep trying me then I have to keep reminding you who's number one. Understand?"

"Yeah!" The knuckles that nuzzled his scalp made him swarm. "I get it! You're number one!"

"That's more like it."

"Like I was saying," Released, Keiichi rubbed his neck and cleared his throat. "I wanted to tell you that I finally won. We played baseball for the penalty game yesterday and I won."

"Congratulations," Rina commented dryly as she watched him massage his side again.

"Umm, I was expecting a little more than that…"

"What? You want a kiss or something?"

"N-No!" He crossed his arms. "I mean, your protégé scored every time he went to bat. I at least expected a gracious single tear."

"You have it backwards." She poked him in the arm. "I expect that much out of you when you're playing with grade schoolers."

"Man…" Keiichi sniffled, his melodrama all for show as he put a hand over his heart. "You always downplay my accomplishments."

"That's because you get a big head whenever I say you did something good. Anyway," Rina walked over to the pitching machine and switched it off. The steady mechanical hum faded, and the song of cicada reigned. It was always there in the background, just more pronounced without the noisy machine. "I'm going to be leaving soon, Keiichi."

"To go back to school, right?" He grinned. It wasn't often that he caught her off guard. "You already told me you hated your job and you always get this gleam in your eye when you talk about baseball."

"Yeah…" She blinked. "I put my application in the mail not too long ago, and the semester starts pretty soon. I doubt I'd make the baseball team so I don't even know about trying out, and-"

"Just give it a try, Rina." He met her at the mound and disconnected the bag from the pitching machine. "If you show them, they'll believe in you the same way I do. It's not like you to give up before you even try."

"You're right…" He reminded her so much of Coach that it hurt. "I can't get too ahead myself. I'm not even enrolled yet, but you're right. Going to tryouts won't hurt."

"That's more like it." Keiichi kept his smile as he walked around plucking balls off the ground before putting them in the bag. "It's about time for you to go to work, though, isn't it?" It wasn't late in the evening, anymore. It was early in the night.

"Nope. Not anymore."

She was late again, and, honestly didn't care. Being late didn't matter if she was never going back. She was done. She was tired of the prostitution and trafficking. She was tired of being a two-bit con-woman. Being Teppei's right-hand man was like living in quicksand. The more she worked, the deeper she entrenched herself in trouble that was going to come back twofold. When you did fucked up stuff to people, you had to accept the possibility fucked up stuff could happen to you. It was the new golden rule and the people around her carried on like they forgot. She wasn't ignorant. She'd get hers, everyone always did, but that didn't mean she was stuck in the cycle.

She could make a change for the better.

She did it before and she could do again.

"That's a good thing." Keiichi held the bag open so she could deposit the baseballs she picked up for him. An idea struck him when their eyes met. "Do you like parties? We need to throw one for you before you leave."

Rina raised an eyebrow, "we?"

"Me, uh…" He paused and looked down at his hand, folding his thumb into his palm as he counted. Who else? "Oh yeah, Rena and her-"

"Ha…" That wistful smile didn't look right on her. "That was a mistake, and I'm pretty sure your friend doesn't want anything to do with me."

"That's okay." The small pile of balls behind home plate was collected and they were done. There was no use in looking through the bushes outside the fence at night. "We'd get together and do something then. Yeah, just the two of us. If you're lucky, I'll bring a gift or two."

"Hmm," it was too tempting an offer to turn down. "You still got that French Maid uniform?"

"Y-You…" He was aghast, the expression he put on one made of horror, "you want to take something like that to school with you!? How scandalo-"

Rina snatched him into another headlock, "I just wanted to get another laugh before I left, but now I'm not letting you go until you swear to let me take a picture."

"You got a deal if you send me some tickets when you play."

"You're not in any position to dictate the terms of this agreement. I told you I might not even make the cut."

"You will," he whispered. "If they're not ready for you, then you can just set a world record in softball or something."

"Then I'll send the tickets…" Rina relented, the hold she retained on him far from the lock it was at first. It was the closest they'd get to a hug. "I'll send some letters, too."

Keiichi kept his head bowed and leaned into her, "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you, too." She consoled him the best she could, the hand that she rubbed up and down his back the way she let him know that she was there for him because he was there for her. "We're going to see each other again, okay?"

"Yeah…"

"Go and hook that bag back up, and turn that thing back on." The slap on the back turned into a gentle shove. Keiichi staggered forward and made sure to keep his back to her as he walked. Rina pretended not to see him swipe at his eyes. "I got a couple of more hours to kill, if you do."

In the time it took for him to attached the bag to the machine and turn it on, Rina picked up the bat and took her place in the batter's box. She rolled her shoulders, and slid her foot back to widen her stance.

It was all routine, something she always did when she was up to bat.

Everything else were variables. The setting and the people changed. They always did, but the important people always left something with her. No matter where she went or what she did, Coach's words stayed and so would Keiichi's faith.

At the thought, she risked a look in his direction.

The form that was hunched over straightened up under her watch, and he put on a brave face. Keiichi smiled for her, and she matched his with her own. The tears were still there, but, as long as he could smile like that, it was okay. She just wanted to make sure she didn't leave him on a sour note. It wasn't even goodbye. She wasn't even leaving just yet. It was good to get over the waterworks now. With that stuff out of the way, there was only good stuff ahead.

Rina sincerely hoped that he realized as much, but the rumbling from the mound made her switch her focus from man to machine. Baseball was all repetition. The pitch was coming so she did what she always did, what she always loved.

She batted.

End

Author's note: This one kind of needs some explanation. First, I took a lot of liberties with her character. The Rina we know doesn't play baseball at all, and I can't recall her being anything close to sympathetic. Also, for the sake of the story, I diminished K1's baseball skills a bit. There is more things of note here and there, but it's all good. To next story.

-CF