The story that everyone has been waiting for!this story actually i first thought of after a softball practice i had maybe over a year ago. lol i have talked about this story for so long and now im finally posting it. well i would like to give credit to my cuz iluvblue2100 for helping me edit the story and making it as wonderful as it is. also i would like to thank all my readers who were interested in this story and can finally read it. pictures of all their outfits are on my photoshop (link on profile). well hopefully everyone will enjoy it! please leave comments on it :3
Disclaimer: softball2240 does not own Shugo Chara! but she does however own her characters that were put into the story
Name: Hinamori Amu
Age at death: 15
Cause of death: heat stroke
Many people die in strange and crazy ways. Some are lucky and die from natural causes. I'm not one of those lucky people. I was one of those people who died of an illness. Not really in a crazy strange way, but still not a normal way. My friends and family were all nice and always supportive of me. So who would have thought that something I loved would be the cause of my death. This is my story.
~Flash Back~
Hinamori Amu, star catcher of the Seiyo High School Girls' softball team. After Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia disappeared, I found out that I was really good at softball. So I joined the softball team and became well known in town and as well in the professionals. In the past two years since I joined, I have been asked to join the professionals ten times. My coach says I should have accepted them but I didn't want to abandon my team or move away from all my friends. So I rejected every offer that came my way and stayed with the Seiyo team. My teammates say that I should accept the offers but I can't. There would be so many people that I would have to leave behind that I don't think would be happy if I left. Utau has become a big star and is going to be featured in a new movie. Lately she has been on tour or in movies, so she hasn't been able to see me play recently, but that doesn't mean she doesn't call me afterwards and ask for the whole run down of the game. Just being able to talk with her about the game makes me feel like she was there, and even though she isn't there I always know she's wishing me luck. Ikuto hasn't called me since he came to visit three years ago, so I guess he still hasn't found his father yet. I wish him luck and hope he finds his father soon, because Utau and everyone miss him.
But everyone else comes to as many of my games as they possibly can. Always cheering me on the loudest. This year we got a new coach however. Mr. Tanaka our old coach had to retire because he is getting too old and is starting to get back pains that could get worse if he continued to coach. Now, our new coach's name was Mr. Jim. Today is the first practice with him and then tomorrow is our first game of the season.
"Alright everyone line up!" Mr. Jim yells.
Everyone starts going over to the area where Coach Jim is standing waiting for us. "Well he seems friendly." Mai says sarcastically.
Mai has become my best friend on the team. She is the best second basemen on the team. I practice a lot with Mai after practices when everyone is gone and she is one of the nicest people I know. We all line up against the fence and wait for Coach Jim to tell us what to do. "Alright girls listen up! I'm not like your old coach Mr. Tanaka who was a softy, so I'm gonna be a lot tougher to handle. Now go run around the far pole and back!" He yells at us.
"Ugh really?" Mai and I whisper to each other while running.
"Hey Amu I'm gonna beat you!" Kuriko yelled as she passed me.
"Oh yeah? Catch you later Mai!" I tell her, and dash by Mai to catch up with Kuriko, who is getting closer to the far pole by the minute.
After making it back to the fence I yell at Kuriko. "Ha beat you!" As I reach the fence I stopped to catch my breath.
"No fair! You pushed me!"
Then we start laughing as everyone else came in. Everyone's tired, well because we did just run almost half a mile. "Alright everyone get your gloves after you take a drink and let's get practice for today started." Coach Jim tells us.
'I get the feeling he just loves to yell and make sure he is heard over all people.'
"Where are we going?" Ryou asks.
Ryou is our newest member on the team, but she is the fastest pitcher we've ever had. I should know I have to catch all those balls she throws. "Well your positions of course! Ryou you're going to be pitching. Amu, get the gear on and warm her up!"
"Yes Coach Jim." I reply.
So off I go to the dugout to get my stuff on. All the stuff is there, except for my lucky bracelet. That bracelet is one of my favorite things. Bought for my birthday, Ikuto gave it to me the last time he visited. I treasure it like no other thing I have ever had. 'Maybe I brought it home last practice?' I ponder. But I can't worry about that now, I have to get ready.
After putting on the equipment, I got up and went over to Ryou to warm her up. After warming up, coach had decided to see how good we were at catching pop-ups and grounders, and batted the balls to everyone. Every time he hit, the player would move under the ball, catch it, throw to first base, then home to me. That's what we've done most of practice. After he deems that we were "good enough" at catching, he decides to make us hit. "Alright let's see what we can do in batting. Hana you're up first!"
Coach was working us until about 7 PM when he decides that he had tested our skills well enough. "Alright girls this was a decent practice. But I want you girls to be here an hour before the game tomorrow so we can warm up properly. Now jog around the bases and pack up!"
Getting the equipment off I go to pack up my things. "And what do you think you're doing Hinamori? I said everyone go jog and you're no exception!" He fumes at me.
"But coach I had to get my equipment off and Coach Tanaka always didn't make me run the last jog."
"Well do you see Coach Tanaka here? You ain't a princess so GO JOG!" As Coach Jim leaves the dugout to watch the rest of the team run, I grumble about Coach Jim being unfair as I take off the equipment. Soon after that I go jog around the bases. It's not really a big deal, but I'm just really hot and tired after being in the catcher's equipment for so long.
Finally running through home base, I go to finish packing up my things. Mai is sitting on the bench waiting for me to finish packing up to walk home with me. "Well Coach Jim is a cheerful person isn't he?" Mai laughs at her joke. After laughing with Mai I start to drink my water, I'm so thirsty from practice. "And he is so unfair isn't he? Not having you switch out. That's ridiculous!" Mai is always looking after everyone on the teams, so she's not just nice to me.
"Now you know he would chew out Alice for not having a strong arm or great accuracy at catching the balls!" I defend Alice. Even though I agree with her, I knew he wouldn't be fair to Alice, she's not the greatest player, but she's good. "Yeah you have a point there. Hey can you walk home alone? My mom just called saying we have to go shopping so she's picking me up in a few minutes."
"Mhm I'll be fine! My house is just around the corner after all!" I smile as I spoke. Mai is always so nice but I know she feels bad that she can't walk home with me, but she has something important to do. "Ok if you say so. Bye Amu, see you tomorrow at the game!" She waved goodbye to me as she walked toward the parking lot where I assume her mom's car is. Sighing, I grab my bag and head out to the way home. Before I make it to the sidewalk, coach calls my name. I head toward him wondering what he is going to yell at me about this time. "When I got all the equipment and stuff I found this bracelet. I assume it's yours?" I nod my head seeing the bracelet that Ikuto had given me a while ago. "Well this junk isn't allowed here alright! I don't care what Mr. Tanaka told you but jewelry of any kind is not allowed on the playing field no matter what. So I don't want to find it again understand?"
I hear Coach Jim yelling at me for having my jewelry in a bag of equipment. It didn't seem fair but I nod after he finishes yelling, I grab my bracelet and walk away from him. 'How DARE he yell at me for that! After nagging me for not running with the others now he was yelling at me for using something precious to me as a good luck charm!' "UGH he is SO UNFAIR!" I yell as I get to my house. Just so my parents don't get suspicious, I calm down a little before entering my house and calmly open the door.
"I'm home!" I announce as I was taking off my shoes, and going up to my room to put down my stuff. 'Huh what a rough practice.' I think. I go back downstairs and make myself a quick sandwich to eat. "Amu why are you home so late?" My mom asks. I knew she would ask me this, but I forgot to text her during practice that I would be home late. "Sorry mom we had practice today with the new coach. He was trying to get a feel for us and probably lost track of time."
My sandwich was really addicting now after not eating for seven hours. "You're not going to have practices this late every night are you?" I knew my mom was worried but hopefully we won't every practice. "I doubt it. Well I'm going to take a shower and go to bed." "Alright Amu. Good night."
After finishing my sandwich, I go upstairs to go take a shower and get my pajamas on. As I was rinsing out my vanilla scented shampoo, I remember that I had to tell the guys that I had to go to my game an hour early. I'm sure Kukai wants to go and see how the coach is, so he'll probably go to "practice" with me. Kukai is a good friend like that. He always gives me support when I need it at practices or when I'm having a rough day.
After getting my pajamas on I go to my bed and text everyone. Figuring that someone might text me back, I leave my phone on as I go to my balcony and start drinking my milk. Even after three years I still have the habit of drinking milk on my balcony after a shower. I still remember the time when Ikuto popped out in front of me when I was drinking milk one time. I look down at my wrist where the bracelet that he gave me is. 'Ikuto, where are you?' I think to myself.
The next day I get up and start getting ready. Even though I hate getting up early I have to today. The reason is because before my game Rima want to go shopping with me. So we decided to go before the game. After brushing my hair, I put on a blue and black striped shirt, denim shorts, and black flats. To complete the outfit, I also wore the bracelet that Ikuto gave me, two black X clips in my hair, a black studded belt with chains on it and the Humpty lock around my neck.
Miki had helped me definitely more with my fashion sense. I'm more confident in what I'm wearing, and it's gotten easier to pick out outfits that look flattering on me. Going downstairs I grab a bowl of cereal and start eating it before I go meet with Rima at the mall. "Amu, what time is your game today?" My mom asks.
"The game starts at six tonight, but I have to be at practice an hour earlier." My mom goes over to the calendar and writes it down, and then she writes a note and posts it on the fridge. "I'll call your dad to let him know about the game." I finish eating my cereal soon after my conversation with my mom. Placing the bowl in the sink I suddenly hear my phone buzz, telling me that I got a text from someone. As I go over to my phone I notice that it's from Rima. Looking at the text message I read what Rima sent me, "Amu, when you get to the mall meet me at the food court. See ya later~ Rima"
Smiling at the text I respond to her that I'll meet her there when I get to the mall. Going towards the door I grab my black purse. "I'll see you at the game later mom!" I call to my mom as I'm leaving. "Have a good time Amu!"
Sometimes when I'm going to meet Rima and the others at the mall, I wish I could drive. It would make getting there a lot faster. But walking is nice too. It lets you get fresh air and when you aren't having a good day it clears your head. The trees this time of the year are really pretty. The flowers are fully blossomed and the leaves are a bright green color. Maybe this is why I like going to the mall. After walking for ten minutes, my phone buzzes again. Looking at my phone to make sure it's not my mom, I notice that it's Kukai. Looking at the text message I realize that I never did get a response from my text last night.
In the text message, Kukai wrote "I'll come by your practice today and check out Coach Jim for you. Sure hope he isn't being a total jerk to you guys. See you then. –Kukai" Smiling at the message I respond to him saying that Coach Jim isn't completely a jerk, but he would see that at practice. As I look up from my phone, I notice that the mall had come into view. Entering the mall I head toward the food court like Rima had told me where we would meet. I sit at the table near the ice cream shop we both love. Rima's parents trust her more with going home by herself and being out later. So usually she doesn't get dropped off places as often. "Hey Amu!" Rima's cheerful voice entered my thoughts. I turn around and see Rima standing behind me. She was wearing a pink tank top, dark jeans, and a pair of black converse on her feet. She also put her hair up and was wearing a necklace.
"Hey Rima! Ready to go shopping?" Rima nods and off we go to shop. After an hour of shopping, Rima and I each had two bags a piece. "Let's go to this shop next!" Rima exclaims. The shop "she was pointing to was a dress shop. Not like a simple 'wear everyday' dress, no they were fancy party type of dresses. "Alright." I'm a little hesitant but I know that Rima really wants to look at them so I agree. Suddenly I feel pressure on my arm and as I look down I notice that Rima has grabbed my arm and is dragging me towards the shop.
As soon as we enter the shop, Rima runs toward the nearest rack and starts looking through all the dresses. Soon after walking around the store for a little while, I stop at a rack and start looking through the dresses. From the rack that I was looking through I pick two dresses that look decent and go to look for Rima. When I find Rima she has three dresses in her hand and is looking for another. "Rima I'm going to the dressing room" Rima looks up at me and grabs my hand. "Ok then let's go try these on!" She exclaims. My guess as to why she stopped looking for a dress is most likely that I had actually picked out dresses to try on.
After we get into the dressing room we each get a room next to each other. The first dress I try on is a long purple dress with spaghetti straps and sequins going around the dress in a complex pattern. Walking out of the room to the mirror in the hallway I see Rima staring at herself in front of the mirror wearing a blood red dress. The dress looks amazing on her. It shows her curves in the right places and with the heels that she bought earlier, the dress makes her look older. "Wow Rima that looks great on you!" I exclaim. Rima jumps and then looks at me.
"Your dress looks great on you to Amu." I smile and ask her if she's going to buy the dress. "Well only if the other ones don't look good on me." As she answers I laugh. Rima is always fun to hang out with and when it's for clothes, things get very serious. After laughing with her we go back into our rooms and try on a different dress. The second dress I try on is a long dark purple dress. It has spaghetti straps and pieces of the dress cascade down my back from the dress. Walking out to look at myself in the mirror I am amazed at how well it looks on me. Sitting on the bench out near the mirror was Rima. She has the red dress with her and the other two dresses are nowhere in sight. "I like the first dress better on you." Looking in the mirror I turn to Rima and agree with her. After talking about the dress I head back and change back into my normal outfit that I had come into the store with. Coming out of the dressing room, I place the purple dress back on the rack and go to the register to pay for the sexy dress.
"So Rima, did you get the red dress?" She nods and tells me that the other dresses didn't meet her standards. Understanding what she means by the dress not meeting her standards, we go to the register and pay for our dresses. After paying, we leave the store and head off to the next store. By the time we get out of that store, it is 4:30 PM. "Oh Rima I gotta go!" I explain as I look at the time on my phone. "Oh ok Amu. Good luck at practice, and I'll see you at the game later!"
"Bye!" I tell her as I'm running away from where she is standing. On the way out of the mall, I pass by a vending machine. Skidding on the ground to stop, I turn back around and stop at the machine to buy two water bottles, since I forgot to pack some for the game when I left this morning. Once I put the bottles safely in my bag, I start running again. Soon I am out of the mall and running in the direction of the softball field. As I'm racing against time, I think about all the times in elementary school when Kukai was training me to be the joker. I start laughing and run faster.
By the time I see the field, I'm exhausted but still have to run if I want to make it to practice on time and not get yelled at by Coach Jim. As I enter the field, I remember that I have to change into my uniform and go back to the Port-A-John to change. After changing, I go back to the dugout and see that everyone on the team is sitting on the bench, waiting for the coach. "Hey guys!" I yell as I come into the dugout. The girls all look behind me, then glance at each other. As I'm putting my bag on the fence, Natalie, our first basemen speaks up. "Amu did you see Coach as you were getting here?" I think back to when I was running as I take my water bottle out of my bag. "No I didn't see him. Why is he not here yet?" Actually as I'm drinking my water, I look around for him. It's not like a coach to be late to their own practice. "Well almost all of us came early to practice so he wouldn't yell at us, but he hasn't shown up yet."
Alice speaks up as we are discussing about where he could be, a car pulls up to the field. We all stop talking and sit on the bench while staring at the blue vehicle that just finished parking. Sure enough, out steps Coach Jim from the car. Opening the truck, coach grabs his clip board and a bucket from the back of the car, closes the hood then makes his way over to the dugout. "Well well, looks like everyone's here. Well don't just sit around, grab a ball and a partner to start practicing!" He yells. As everyone is scrambling around in the dugout to get their stuff and a partner, Mai soon comes up to my side. "So we gonna practice or what!" She asks me. I laugh and run out to the field with her.
After ten minutes of throwing, Coach Jim picks three girls to practice hitting at a time, and we practice fielding at the same time. While in the field, I noticed Kukai in the bleachers observing our practice. I try not to wave and focus more on the ball, but it's proving to be difficult. "Hey Amu you got Kukai to come watch?" Yuri asked. Yuri has a HUGE crush on Kukai. Every time he comes to a game or practice, she nearly passes out. "Yes of course he came. He likes to observe how a coach prepares a team. But I wouldn't make a big deal about it, or coach might make him leave." I smirk as I answer her. It's not that I don't trust her, it's just sometimes coaches don't like their practices watched. Coach Tanaka didn't mid Kukai being there though. He usually had him practice with us to get us prepared for games. Maybe he asked for the help because he was getting old, but who knows. I asked Kukai once if he minded having to practice with us. "Are you kidding?" He said. "I love this! It's fun to do something different."
That's how Kukai is with anything new. The most positive attitude you've ever seen from someone. "Oh you have a point! Ok I'll keep quiet. Thanks Amu!" She responds. I smile at her. "Girls focus out there!" Coach yells.
"Hai!" We all yell back. Just then a pop up comes straight to me.
"I got it!" I yell as I run back to catch the ball. Once I get under it, I jump up and catch the ball. Landing back on the ground, I throw it back to Coach Jim. "Well done Hinamori." He yells. I smile then focus on the next ball that is hit.
After swapping with everyone we practice fielding from our positions on the field. I warm up our pitcher Ryou as usual. Today she is pissed for some reason. The only reason I know is because she is throwing the ball so hard. Not wanting to bug her about it, I keep quiet. Coach is probably happy that she is throwing the ball so accurately. 'Maybe that's why she's pissed.' I think. I remember that yesterday Coach was giving her a hard time about the way she pitches. "Very good Ryou!" he says. "Keep that up in the game and we'll have a chance at winning." He has just royally pissed her off. "No problem." She mutters and then throws the ball extremely hard to me. As its coming you can imagine it shooting out of cannon. After catching the speedy object, I have to take the glove off and shake my hand. 'Dang she's mad!' I think.
As I get the sensation back in my hand, I put the glove back on and throw the ball back to her. "Alright girls line up!" Coach yells. Everyone puts down their gloves and runs to where Coach Jim is standing on the field. "From what I saw, I have a feeling we're going to do well in the game. Just stay focused and don't hesitate with the ball!" He explains. As we are listening to him talk, my eyes wander off to where Kukai is sitting. He looks at me, and then puts two thumbs up. I smile, knowing he'll get the message. "Now everyone jog around the bases and relax in the dugout. Hinamori get off the equipment and then run!" He yells.
Everyone goes to start running around the bases while I get the equipment off. As I'm taking off the equipment, I notice how sweaty I am. So before running I take a slug of water, and then head out on the field to run the bases. When I finish running, coach tells everyone to relax until the other team arrives. I go over to my bag and get my other water bottle. Unfortunately the water bottle I was drinking from before I left on the bench and someone decided to take it. As I finish drinking my water Kukai comes up to the fence. "Hey great practice!" He tells me with his bright smile showing. "Thanks Kukai. So what do you think of Coach Jim?" I ask.
One of the reasons I hoped he would come today for my practice was to see his opinion on Coach. If anyone can evaluate a sports coach, it's Kukai. He's done so many sports and been taught by so many coaches that I wouldn't be surprised if in the future he turned out to be a sports coach. "Well he's…. an interesting character. He tries to work you guys so hard to make sure that you don't get distracted. He manly focuses on performance and not so much the health or needs of his players. Make sure you drink plenty of water before the game Hinamori." Kukai tells me.
I know he cares for me as a sister, so he usually tells me the truth about things. "Of course I will. I'm just excited about the game today! I hope we win." I exclaim. Kukai and I then laugh. "With you on the team I'm sure you guys will win." It seems like a true statement too. Ever since I joined the team two years ago, we haven't lost a game. It's like I'm some lucky charm. 'Or it could be my lucky charm.' I think as I look at my charm bracelet that's hanging from my bag.
After talking with Kukai for another ten minutes, the other team starts showing up, along with all the spectators. "Alright girls get your stuff and start practicing again!" Coach tells us as he begins to walk over to the other teams coach. "Well good luck out there Hinamori!" Kukai tells me. "Will do!" I reply back as I get my glove and go to the field.
"Hey Amu do you want to practice with me?" I turn around and see Mai standing with a ball and her glove behind me. "Why, when haven't I?" I ask her. We laugh and head out to the field to start throwing to each other. After ten minutes of practice, everyone on the other team showed up. This meant that we had at least another five minutes of practice before the game would begin. "Hey Amu, heads up!" I heard Masako say. As I turn around I see a ball coming at me at a high speed. Raising my glove I try to catch the ball and shield my face. A 'clud' sound is heard and I look into my glove to find the ball. "Great catch Amu!" Yuri calls from where she is catching with Yuki. "Here Masako!" I yell as I toss the ball over to her. As the ball reaches her, a whistle is blown from the coach. He calls us in and we run over to where he is standing. "All right girls let's have a successful game and win! We're battin' first." He tells us.
All of us sigh a breath of relief. Our team seemed to have a conspiracy about this. If we bat first then we play better than when we are out in the field first. The batting order is always the same. So we all get our stuff out and get ready. Batting isn't my stronger point, so I'm near the middle of the batting order. "All right Matsuda your up! Start us up strong!" Masako smirks and gets up. "Will do coach."
After the first four batters we had one out and scored two points so far. "Let's go Hinamori." As I pull my white batting gloves on I take a slug of water and head out to go bat. The pitcher on the Nole school team had a wicked curve ball and had startled our team. 'Alright you can do it Amu!' I tell myself as I stand at the plate. The first pitch comes at me as a curve ball, and I try to hit my target, but fail. Strike. The next pitch comes again as a curve ball and I miss it again. Strike two. The pitcher has a smirk on her face, but I ignore it and focus on the ball that's in her hand. I tighten my grip on my bat. There is no way that I am going to let my team down. The last ball she throws is a fast ball. I smirk as it comes my way and swing hard at the ball. As the bat and the ball collide, it makes a 'crack' sound and goes out towards left field. I drop the bat instantly and run towards first. As I make it to first, the first base coach points towards second and I dash over there. The girl in the outfield had finally reached where the ball was and throws it towards second base. Not risking the chance of getting out, I go down on my leg and slide into second. As I touch the base, the second baseman catches the ball. "Safe." Is the call that is heard from the umpire.
Everyone in the crowd cheers. I get up from the ground and brush off my pants to get rid of some of the dirt that got on them. I stand on the bag and look to watch what the third base coach is telling me to do. He gives me the signal to steal third and I nod. Watching the ball leave the pitcher's hand, I sprint over to third base. As I get to the base, the pitcher stares at me with a look that says "I'll get you!" it makes me shiver. But soon I recover from the stare and focus on Mai. She is batting next and is looking extremely nervous. It seems that whenever there are two outs she gets so nervous. 'Poor Mai.' I think. "Hinamori, if the ball goes past the catcher, run for home." The third base coach whispers. "Hai!" I whisper back as I focus on the pitcher. To Mai's luck, the pitcher throws a fast ball and she hits it past second base. Not wasting any time. I sprint down toward home. "Come on throw the ball in!" the pitcher yells to the outfield. I can tell she really hates me. But soon enough I am sliding into home base and the pitcher has just gotten the ball. I stand up and start to head toward the dugout. Cheers can be heard from the crowd as I had scored another point for our team.
"Hey nice slide Amu!" Yuri tells me as I sit down. "Really? Thanks?" I respond as I sit down and drink some water. By the time I stop drinking, the bottle was only a third of the way full. 'Oops.' I think. 'Ok I have to make sure this lasts me the whole game!' I tell myself. Looking at the score, I figure I won't get back up to bat, so I go to the equipment bag and put on my shin guards. By putting them on now, I can warm up Ryou to her fullest. I figure Coach Jim will be happy with this so I think, 'why not am prepared already.'
Soon enough, after the next batter goes up to bat, there are three outs. "Alright girls get to your positions and get ready for their team!" He yells. As I get up from the bench, I walk over to the equipment bag again and get on the rest of my equipment. After getting everything on, I grab my glove from the bench and go behind home plate. When I got there, Ryou immediately starts pitching. Coach must have told her to get in as many pitches as she could, because right now she is throwing balls constantly back at me. Soon the umpire tells me she has three pitches left. "Three more Ryou!" I yell to her. Without breaking her concentration she nods and throws her last three, hard pitches. The batter was called up to bat.
It's the fifth inning already. The game so far has been our longest yet. Halfway through and we've been playing for two hours. In the third inning I finished my water and am starting to get really thirsty again, and hot. But I have to stay focused on the game. Mainly because our team is losing. It had been devastating when in the fourth inning, the other team had gotten a home run, causing their team to get ahead of us by 3 points. Since then, our team has been behind in the game. Coach Jim keeps yelling at us to stay focused and to be more accurate, but all he's really doing is putting pressure on us and pissing us all off. By the time the third inning was over Ryou had blown a fuse. She was getting sick of Coach Jim yelling at her and the rest of our team that she walked out of the game. Coach was yelling at her the whole time she was walking, but she didn't care at that point. Coach had annoyed her to the point that she was only playing just to please him and not having a good time. I think we all are getting to the point where we just want to forfeit the game because Coach is making it less and less enjoyable.
"Strike Three! YOU'RE OUT!" is heard by everyone at the stadium. A loud groan is heard from the crowd, as yet another batter on our team has struck out. The pitcher on their team has upped her game a level and is throwing balls so fast that it's hard to even tell if she throws the ball at all, or if we just swing at thin air. "HINAMORI! You're up! Come on get us a hit!" Coach has gotten harsher with not only me, but the whole team. I guess he figures it isn't just MY fault that our team is losing. "Hai." I reply as I get my helmet on and walk up to the plate. It's getting harder now to show no fear when getting up to the plate. Almost every player that has gone up to bat has struck out since the second inning. Occasionally I had hit the ball, but I only made it to first base before the next batter got out. Today definitely was a day I wish I had my guardian charas. At least if they were around, they would cheer me up and tell me to do my best.
My friends tried to cheer me up with their text messages, but soon enough, coach found out everyone was texting their family and friends and confiscated our phones. But even without them I have to try my best and cheer myself up with my teammates. We tried to help each other feel better each inning, but our hope is running thin. Standing at the plate, I get ready for the pitcher to throw her pitch. As she winds up, I get the bat at a position where I can easily swing at the ball. The pitcher releases the ball and I twist my bat around fast to try and make contact with the ball. A 'pop' can be heard from my bat. Looking out into the field I see the ball heading towards the outfield. I hit the ball. I stop gawking at the ball and run full speed to first base.
The first base coach is signaling for me to keep going and I turn to head towards second. By now I'm halfway to second base and I can see the third base coach signaling me to go over towards him. Not daring to risk getting out, I speed up and swing over to third base. The pitcher is swearing to herself as she is yelling at the outfielders to hurry with the ball and get me out. As I reach third base, I smirk. The ball has just made it to second base and I am already heading towards home without even consent from the third base coach. "SLIDE AMU, SLIDE!" my team members are yelling at me. The ball (from what I can tell from the pitcher's screams) has been thrown to the catcher and she is standing at home ready to get me out. When I reach a good distance from home plate, I start sliding, to (hopefully) my victory. As I touch the base, the catcher receives the ball.
"Safe!" the umpire yells as I start to doubt my speed. The whole crowd cheers as I stand up from the ground. I smile as I get up and begin walking to the dugout. Just as I start walking, a wave of dizziness falls over me and I begin to lose consciousness. Before I completely blank out, a cry for help is called and I hear people racing over to me.
When I finally come to, I hear sirens screeching all around me. I am half aware of my surroundings. From what I can tell, my parents and Ami are in the ambulance with me. The others, I assume are with Kukai in his car headed towards the hospital where I'm being taken. "Amu! Amu! Can you hear us?" My mom asks me frantically. It's still hard to see straight, and I have a splitting headache, but I nod my head to let her know I can hear her. "Oh thank heavens!" My mom says. From what I can see, I can tell that all of them have been crying. Ami is still crying, probably not realizing that I'm awake. A different person comes into the vehicle after closing the doors. The car starts to drive at a fast speed and is leading towards the hospital. I start to get dizzy again and soon am taken over once again by darkness.
It was meant to be a surprise for Amu. I had come to her game to cheer her on, hearing from Kukai that the coach was giving her a hard time. But to come to the game and have this happen, I didn't expect it. After getting to the hospital after the treacherous car ride, we were told that it was too late. Her parents had told us that she had not been drinking water for a while, which caused her to pass out. It shocked us all that this happened. To a girl so talented, so special, that something so stupid killed her. She was living her dream and during that time she died. Looking around I notice that everyone's heads are hanging. Kukai is trying to hide his tears. I know how much she meant to him. She was like his little sister. I feel the tears start to fall down my face. They are wet, reminding me of the thing that caused her to die. My tears start to pour down my face. I don't try to wipe them away; I know that they will never stop, no matter how hard I urge them to stop. Soon, Kukai comes over to my side, to comfort me. We hug and cry just as everyone else does.
After crying for a few minutes, Rima speaks up and asks if we can see Amu and say our goodbyes. Her mother nods and we head in the direction of Amu's room. As we get to the room, it's clear that there is no activity in the room. I can hear the shuffle of a bag coming from behind me. As I turn my head, I see Nagihiko shifting Amu's bags on his shoulders. During the time when everyone was rushing to get to the hospital, Nagihiko thought it would be a good idea to take her stuff with us, so nothing would happen to it. I notice the shopping bag in his hand. The stuff in there was from Amu and Rima's shopping trip earlier today. I guess her parents would take the stuff she had bought back to the store. But I want to take off of my mind the fact that Amu will be missing from our lives from now on.
Turning the knob to enter her room is the hardest thing ever to do. We all just want to see Amu smiling at us saying not to worry, but we know that will never be true. Opening the door, we all find that all this hasn't been a nightmare. There is Amu lying on the bed, without a pulse, not breathing. I run up to her and sit on the floor crying my heart out as I hold her hand. The person who had saved me from my struggles, who was always supporting me, who had stolen my brother's heart; she is the one cold and dead. My tears continue pouring out of my eyes faster than they did before. More than when my mother was in the hospital or when our father had left us. It is the saddest moment in my life.
No one has bothered us the whole time we are there. Eventually, my tears stop and I actually look at Amu. Her face looks like it is at peace and still, even at death, looks like the face of an angel. Her pink hair is laid all around the pillow beneath her head, in a messy array. She was taken out of her uniform and put into a simple hospital gown. It doesn't matter what she is wearing, she will never wake up to complain about how ugly it is or that it is itchy. This makes a small smile appear on my face. Looking down at her arm, I notice the bracelet that Ikuto had given her the last time he visited. She must have worn it during the game and her parents probably told the nurses to keep it on her. They knew how much that bracelet meant to her as the rest of us did.
Speaking of her parents… I turn my head and notice my surroundings. Amu's parents have entered the room at some point and have been surrounding Amu on the other side of the bed. Her sister Ami is grabbing Amu's hand like a lifeline and is continuously crying for Amu to come back and not leave her, while her tears and snot are covering her face. Kukai is sitting on a chair next to me, looking like he wants to punch something, Nagi is hugging Rima, trying to calm her down still, and Yaya is nowhere to be found. Either she has found a vending machine and decided to distract herself with candy, or has to cry somewhere else. I stand up from the ground and decide to help Kukai relax. We all know that it is hard on all of us. But there is one person that still doesn't know.
It's been awhile since I was back in Japan. The last time I was here, was to celebrate Amu's fourteenth birthday, which was two years ago. I had missed her for her last birthday because I was looking for my father. As it turns out, he was in America. When I had found him and told him I wanted him to come back with me, he had agreed as long as I had someone back in Japan that I really cared for. It was obvious that Amu was the one I really cared for so we made plans to come back.
Now here we are, in Japan, on Amu's sixteenth birthday. It is a surprise to her and I want to make sure she doesn't know about my arrival back to Japan. I told Utau to meet me at the airport so when I came with our dad, she would be surprised as well. So after looking for Utau for ten minutes, I have finally spotted her. She is wearing a black hat to hide her long blonde hair and her purple eyes. I don't know why it matters anymore-why it matters if she hides from all her fans still, but I guess it still matters to her. "Utau!" I yell as I signal her to come towards me.
She looks up from where she's searching for me and starts heading in my direction. "Yo, Utau how are you?" I ask her as she approaches me. When I get a better look at her, I notice that she looks sad as I study her face. Also there is no sign of Amu anywhere around. "Hey you didn't bring Amu with you to meet me?" I ask as she looks up at my face. As I look, I notice that tears are starting to form in her eyes. Something's wrong.
"Utau, where's Amu? What's wrong?" I ask her. Worry is beginning to enter my system as I see more tears fall down her face. She looks at me with her watery eyes and answers my question, much to my dismay. "She's gone Ikuto. SHE'S GONE! It was at one of her softball games. Apparently, she didn't have enough to drink and the heat got to her, and… and… she died. SHE DIED IKUTO! There was nothing the doctors could do. She was already too hot and not cooling down quick enough and they weren't able to save her." More tears stream down her face as she starts sobbing louder. My face falls as I hear what Utau tells me. Amu…. She's dead. At such a young age she was dead, and there was nothing I could do about it. The person I most cared for had died while I was away, and no one told me until now. Guilt began to fill me as I feel tears start to form in my eyes. I hug Utau as I start crying. I am never going to be able to tell her that I love her.