Narrowing her eyes, Maki concentrated hard on the girl that was standing in the dirt. Specifically the one standing to the left of the other girl standing in the dirt. "Okay, but... she's gotta be nearly six feet tall."
"Yeah, so?" Rin sighed quietly, though it was entirely possible that Maki heard. She had promised Maki that she'd explain anything that the redhead didn't understand, but even she could only do so much.
"Then..." Maki gestured at the girl, disbelief etched on her face. "How is she a shortstop?" Rin groaned audibly. "I'm serious!"
"A shortstop is a position, Maki-chan!"
"But she's not short!"
"It doesn't matter!" She was trying her best not to lose her patience. After all, Maki was a good friend of hers, and she was originally thrilled that Maki wanted to go see a softball game. She had never shown any interest in sports, so it was a nice surprise. All the questions though... Between this and 'Why is it called a softball if it's not soft?', she didn't know which was more sigh-worthy.
Luckily, practice was drawing to a close and the game was about to begin. Maybe it'd interest Maki enough that she'd really get into it and not ask any more questions. As the players ran onto the field to take their positions, Rin jumped up and began to cheer, waving enthusiastically at the first baseman. It just so happened that the first baseman, Honoka, was her girlfriend.
"Woo! You got this, babe!" Rin cheered, forcing Maki to look away from the shortstop - "I still think it's a dumb name..." - and towards the right side of the field. "Doesn't she look hot in that uniform, Maki-chan?"
"Huh? Uh, I guess?" Not for nothing, but Maki didn't feel too comfortable saying her friend's girlfriend was hot. It didn't seem appropriate for whatever reason. However, it did distract her from constantly harping on the whole shortstop thing, and they were able to watch without much commentary. At least until the second inning.
When that inning came around, batter number four came to the plate, and as she did, Maki's eyes followed her a lot more intently than for the previous three. There was a way she carried herself that screamed cool and confident. She could see a hint of blue hair that wasn't able to be hidden by her helmet. Now this was someone she didn't feel weird saying was hot in that uniform.
"Rin, who is that?" Maki pointed at the batter, unable to take her eyes off of her. She was sure there hadn't been any blue-haired fielders, so where did she come from?
"Oh, that's Sonoda Umi. She's the catcher," Rin explained.
"The catcher? But everybody catches the ball."
"Maki-chan..." Sighing, Rin pointed to a fielder who was crouching behind home plate. "See? That's the catcher. It's a position."
"Okay, but everybody catches the-"
"Alright, Maki-chan, then what would you call it?" Put to the task, Maki thought about it for a moment.
"Plate Guardian."
"Oh my god." Rin hid her face in her hands, which allowed Maki to go back to staring at the catcher - the position - batting. She really did look gorgeous. Maki wondered how she could get a conversation going with her. Maybe she could ask for an autograph or something. That was something Rin had mentioned: asking athletes for autographs. She remembered Rin saying she had one of them from some guy named Ken. That wasn't a bad idea.
Her mind was temporarily taken away from the game as she ran over various scenarios in her mind. She couldn't just ask for an autograph: she had to seem cool and not end up making a fool of herself. Sure, she had the romantic skills of a brick wall, but there had to be something to change that. "Duck!"
"Huh? Where?" Rin's voice broke her out of her thoughts, and Maki tried to find this duck that was being talked about. What she found was not so much a duck as a softball, heading straight for her face. There was only time for her eyes to widen slightly before the ball caromed off her face and further into the stands.
The pain was immediate. Letting her composure slip, Maki yowled in pain as she covered her nose with her hands. Blood dripped freely down her palms, and in the background she heard someone shout, "Hey, I caught the ball! Eww, it has blood on it."
"Oh my god, Maki-chan! Are you okay?!" Rin fretted worriedly around Maki, trying to pull her hands away to inspect the damage. Maki refused though, pulling back as tears started to fall down her cheeks. It hurt like all hell, and she was positive her nose had been broken. Whimpering, she barely registered that someone else had come over and was talking to her.
"Ma'am? Are you okay?" Maki turned her attention to the voice, which was an older woman with a patch on her shirt that showed she was part of a medical team. "I've got a first aid kit if you need assistance."
"N-No, I'm fine," Maki mumbled as she slowly pulled her hands away from her face. Yeesh, that was a whole lot of blood. She could see Rin paling in her peripheral vision. "I-I'll just go wash up." Standing up, she decided to make her way to the restroom and clean herself up. The medic moved so that she could pass, and Rin bounced up to follow after her.
As she started to walk out of the stands, a shout rang out from the crowd. Maki turned towards the field to figure out what was going on, only to have something awfully familiar smack her right on the top of her head. She heard Rin scream her name, and then everything went dark.
"Wow, I can't believe she got hit with back to back foul balls." Honoka whistled, equal parts concerned for Maki and impressed at how bad someone's luck could possibly be. "What are the chances?"
"She's gonna be okay, right?" Rin had abandoned her chair early on into Maki's stay at the nurse's and had been pacing in a circle for twenty minutes. Now her attention was on the nurse, who had come back to check on Maki. If this ended up doing permanent damage, she'd never be forgiven. It had always been her idea to go to the softball games, after all.
"Oh don't worry, she's going to be fine." The nurse reassured the room with a smile. "Unfortunately, her nose was broken by the first impact, but that will heal." Well, that was a relief. As the occupants of the room relaxed, Maki began to stir. "Oh, looks like she's waking up now."
When she returned to the waking world, she immediately could feel the slight sting associated with her broken nose. Groaning quietly, she blinked and allowed her vision to start adjusting. She could see the nurse coming around to check on her, with Rin rushing towards her and Honoka sitting close by. Also Umi was standing there. Wait...
"U-Umi?!" Maki sat up in shock, unable to believe what she was seeing. What was Umi doing here?
"I wanted to come and apologize," Umi smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I didn't mean to hit you with a foul ball like that."
"Twice," Honoka added.
"Yes, twice." Umi cast a sideways glare at Honoka, who merely smiled innocently. "Anyway, I hope you can accept my apology."
"O-Of course." Maybe her luck wasn't so bad after all. Yes, she hadn't really excepted that getting hit in the face with a softball would garner her an audience with the team's hot-as-hell catcher, but since it had already happened, she would take it. With her helmet off, her magnificent blue hair was allowed to flow freely. She was also wearing jeans. Jeans really suited her, Maki decided.
Now was the perfect time to say something cool and suave. She'd been practicing in her mind back at the ballpark for at least thirty seconds, so there had to be something she could say. Asking for an autograph was a good start. She wanted to say it, but she was temporarily distracted by Umi's lips. Was she wearing lipstick? No, this was no time to get distracted. It was time to not be a loser and time to be a cool...ser. She was glad she didn't say that out loud.
"Hey, Umi?"
"Yes?"
"C-Can I get your autograph?" Alright, so far so good.
"Huh?" Umi seemed taken aback for a second by the request, but then that warm smile returned. "Sure. What would you like me to sign?" Keeping up the good work.
"My lips." Wait, what? "With your lips." Oh no. What had she just said? Did she just say that? Maybe it had just been said in her mind- Nope, everybody's eyes were widened. Oh no. Disaster. Defcon 1. End of the world scenario. "I... apologize. I think I'm... having a stroke. Yes, I'm... I'm not going to make it." Slowly she pulled the bed covers over her head, her face burning brighter than the sun. "Nurse, you're going to have to put me down."
She could hear someone laughing - Honoka by the sound of it - and she decided that she was going to stay in her cocoon of shame until everybody left the room. Then she would stay in there until they all had passed on from this world. Only then could she live down this embarrassment.
Someone pulled the covers down before she could get a better grip on them, and she was forced to look at everybody again. How utterly mortifying. Looking down at her with a barely-concealed grin was Umi. Even more mortifying.
"You know, that was pretty smooth," Umi remarked. "At the beginning, anyway." Maki could only stare at her, frozen. Not like she minded staring at Umi, of course.
"R-Really?"
"Yes, and I'm more than willing to fulfill your request, seeing that you're such a fan." Yes, of course: a fan. It was important that Maki neglect to mention how that was her first time ever going to a sports event. When Umi leaned in, Maki forgot what she was supposed to be neglecting. When their lips met, she forgot her own name.
It wasn't a short autograph session, oh no. Umi made sure to sign her full name across Maki's lips, taking great care to make every line perfect with her tongue. Maki's hand clutched Umi's shoulders shakily, locking lips like her life depended on it. When they finally pulled apart, it took a bit for Maki to come back to reality. When she did, she remembered her situation, and her face burned anew.
"Honoka and I are meeting the team for a little victory celebration. You should come, though." Umi smiled and backed up towards Honoka, who stood up. "If you want. Rin can show you the way there." With a wave goodbye, both Umi and Honoka left, leaving Maki waving dumbly after her.
"Oh wow..." She breathed shakily, forgetting once again that someone else was in the room. That someone else leaned in close with her biggest cat-like grin.
"So I guess you and Umi-chan really had a ball, huh?"
"RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"