This idea came to me last night and I probably should have gotten up and wrote it right then but of course I had class today! So here, it is. It may be a little slow going in the beginning, but I promise it will pick up in around the third chapter. There will some OOC so bare with me please! For the most part I will put forth my best effort to capture their characters!
This story is currently being beta'd for me, however, it has already been two weeks and I really wanted to get this to you guys as soon as possible, especially with three exams skyrocketing towards me and homework out the wazzu. When my beta reader finished her corrections, I will edit the story as necessary.
Continuous stories aren't usually my forte, since I can't usually write without being inspired and I lose sight of my goal halfway through, but I have high hopes for this story!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights belong to their rightful owners! If I owned anything, I probably wouldn't need to go to college and be up in my neck in freakin' homework.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I groaned and rolled over onto my right side, slapping my hand several times against my alarm clock in an attempt to find the off button. I stretched out my arms and legs before attempting to open my eyes.
Light heavily shone through the blinds of my dorm window and I groaned in reluctance. I sat up on the edge of my bed and stretched once more before reaching over to the nightstand to grab my glasses.
I began to follow my normal morning routine. I dressed and went to grab some breakfast before running over to brush my teeth and then drink my juice (an idiotic mistake I seemed to make every morning) then proceeded to rush off to class just barely on the verge of being late.
Classes went on, boring as usual.
And then there was practice.
The sun baked down against the field, brightening the color of the orange-yellow sand. I inhaled deeply and sighed. I could never get over how the smell of the dirt made me feel.
"OI! MIYUKI-SENPAI! CATCH MY PITCH TODAY!"
I turned and couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. A very determined Eijun was screaming to me, pushing a very annoyed looking Furuya behind him, who was attempting to yell something at him, but I couldn't quite catch what it was.
Smirking, I yelled back to him.
"Hey, hey. What makes you think I'd want to catch your pitch today Sawamura? You can pitch to the net."
My response immediately earned me an outraged yell from Sawamura and a smug look on Furuya's face.
It's not really like I preferred catching one's pitch over the other. But Sawamura is just always so much fun to tease.
I went and began to adorn my catchers gear and Furuya went over and began to stretch his arm. I could see a dejected look in Sawamura's eye as he walked over to the net. I rolled my eyes and headed in his direction.
"Oi, Bakamura."
Said boy turned to me with a questioning look on his face.
"I'll catch a few of your pitches near the end of practice so don't be such a whiner! Haha!"
He grinned a bit and nodded then frowned at me.
"I AM NOT A WHINER MIYUKI!"
I laughed lightly and gave him a wave of my hand before heading over to an impatient Furuya. He asked no questions though and I got down in position, ready for him to pitch. His pitches did not dissapoint.
"You're looking good today Furuya! Let's throw a few before you get too hot eh?"
He grumbled about being fine and I snickered as his pitch hit my mitt with amazing speed. That boy is such a hot head deep down. It was so easy to irritate him! And the way he and Sawamura were always going at it? Priceless!
We threw quite a bit. When Furuya really started to sweat I knew he should probably head off. He was insistent that he stay and pitch more but I blew him off.
"Why would I want to catch your pitch when you're like that? No. Go rest. Besides," I chuckled. "I told Sawamura I would catch his pitch too."
Furuya's face was priceless and I started cracking up as he walked away irritated. I stretched a bit, sore from squatting down and yelled over to Sawamura. He grinned and immediately began sprinting. We set up and began.
His form was good today, but his ball was crazy all over as usual. I could really tell he had been working on his stamina and the way he holds the ball. His four seamer was looking great and I knew he had probably pitched a lot to the net before heading over here.
We'll make an ace out of him yet.
We continued our throwing a little after practice had ended. The boy was getting tired though so I decided it was enough.
I waved my hand and stood. He looked a little disappointed to be stopping, but wiped the sweat from his face and removed his glove. He then turned to me and grinned.
"Miyuki! How was that today? I was good!"
I rolled my eyes at his enthusiasm and ego. I wasn't going to inflate it for him that's for sure.
"Ehhhh, I don't know. You seemed pretty much the same to me. But man is Furuya's stamina improving or what?"
I snickered as he gave me a dirty look before plopping down and lying in the dirt. I walked over and nudged him with my foot.
Okay, maybe I kicked him a bit.
"What are you doing down there? Going to start living amongst the worms Sawamura?"
His laugh was light and he shut his eyes. I watched him for a moment as he laid there, dirt in his hair and covered with sweat. The sun was starting to go down a little so it was cooling off outside which was a nice change.
Suddenly, Sawamura burst up and his eyes flew open. He looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Oh no! What time is it?!"
As he frantically began running to the dugout I shook my head.
"What do you think I am? Some sort of human clock. Why would I wear a watch with your crazy pitching? You'd probably break it."
I grinned, baiting him slightly but the look in his eyes as he discovered his phone in his bag was wild. His sweat seemed to increase rather than decrease despite the change in temperature.
"Oh no... I'm late, he's going to kill me!"
I tilted my head slightly and began to walk over to him.
"Oi, are you talking about Kuramochi? He probably beat you up either way, just so you know."
I laughed at my own joke, but Sawamura didn't seem to find it funny. He quickly began texting and frantically threw his bag over his shoulder. He said nothing to me as he brushed passed me and I frowned.
"What? No 'thank you' for your senpai who spent his time catching your pitches?!"
I turned but he had already broke off into a run, on the phone with someone who he was repeatedly muttering apologies to. I couldn't help but feel slightly irritated. Here I was, spending my valuable time with him and I didn't even get appreciation?
I shook my head slightly and went to removed my catchers gear. It shouldn't have bothered me so much but still. It was the principle of the matter.
It was around ten o'clock when Sawamura showed up at my dorm. It had began to sprinkle lightly outside just a little bit ago and I was just about to go to bed when I heard a light rap on my door. I opened it to find a semi-soaked first year, his hands in his pockets and a dejected look on his face. He scratched the nape of his neck before glancing up and me and giving me a very small smile.
"Hey Miyuki-senpai."
I crossed my arms and leaned on the door frame. I was still a little bit sore still from earlier but it wasn't anything a little teasing couldn't make feel better. I smirked.
"You're going to catch cold! Oh, but idiots don't catch colds."
His irritation seemed to be more than usual but whatever he needed was more important because he began looking at the ground again and didn't take my bait.
It's no fun if he doesn't fight back.
So I sighed and fully opened the door.
"What do you want at the hour Sawamura? Some of us have been up late doing homework and would like to get some sleep."
He bit his lip and looked up and me then seemed to lose his nerve and turned away.
"Never mind. I-I shouldn't have come. I guess... I guess I'll just go. Yeah, I'll go."
I rolled my eyes and grabbed his wrist as he began to walk away.
"Oi, oi. You make me get up for that? At least tell me what you came for."
He chewed on his bottom lip again in what seemed to be debate before bowing to me.
"PLEASE LET ME STAY HERE TONIGHT SENPAI!"
I released his wrist and gazed at him. Something was a little strange about his attitude. But I guess something was always strange about the energetic little pitcher. I sighed and stepped aside so he could enter. His grin was one of relief rather than happiness though. I shut the door behind him and he looked around at my room.
"I guess since I don't have any other roommates it won't be much of an issue. But why do you need to stay here?"
He glanced at me for a second and I thought what I saw was fear in his eyes but I quickly dismissed it. He laughed and scratched at his shoulder.
"Ahh... I ate a pudding that was not mine. I should be more careful I guess..."
He seemed to trail off and his eyes glazed over slightly but I shrugged.
"The bottom bunk is mine. You can sleep on the top," I began to rummage through my drawers and threw him a clean shirt. "I don't think any of my pants will fit you, I'm pretty sure we are a different size... oh no, here. These should fit you. They're from last year."
He glanced at the shorts I threw him nervously.
"Um, shorts? Couldn't I just wear my pants to bed."
I rolled my eyes at him.
"Hey now, next time you go doing this you can remember to pack your own clothes. I'm not going to get soaked from you drippin' water through the mattress!"
He nodded and mumbled an apology before turning to change quickly. I rolled my eyes and began looking in my closet for some spare blankets in case he needed some. I turned to ask him how many pillows he slept with, but my question died in my mouth.
His back was covered in some large bruises, five or six of them. Most of them had a yellowish tint to them and were almost healed but two of them were an ugly bluish hue. His legs were no better. A few scars that could have been accident's but there was one dark reddish blue bruise along the outside of his leg. It had four indents just larger than the size of my fingers that were darker than the rest of the bruise and whatever had caused it had slid across his skin.
Just above his waist band on his left hip was a mess of bandages that looked like they had soaked up blood and it had dried. They hadn't been changed in awhile and it looked painful.
"My god. Did Kuramochi do that?"
His eyes wild and frantic, he turned to me. I could hardly register his words as I tried not to stare at the angry healing bruises and scars on his chest.
"It's rude to stare at people!"
His growl provoked me and I met his angry eyes.
"It's rude to show up unannounced at your senpai's dorm."
He dropped his gaze and slid the shirt on. He apologized and thanked me for letting him stay for the night before folding up his wet clothes and removing his phone from the pocket of his sweatpants. It was ringing.
He glanced at it with a sickened look on his face before powering it off and setting it along with his wet clothes by the door.
His response and attitude made me feel a little guilty about snapping back at him but I shook it off. I walked over and ruffled his hair and grinned at him slightly. His eyes were glazed over again and he almost looked sad.
"Hey come on. You need to get some freaking sleep or your pitching wont even be worth catching tomorrow. Don't think just because you're staying here for tonight means you get dibs on me as your catcher!"
I smirked and he gave a small half-hearted smile before nodding.
I turned off the lights and climbed into my bunk to try to get some rest, but my mind was haunted by images of Sawamura's scarred and bruised body, leaving my dreams to conjure up whatever it could to satisfy my curiosity of just what kind of monster could do that to someone.
So that's the end of chapter one. Miyuki is definitely a hard character to portray in my opinion. I may decide to write third person or maybe I will keep it this way.
Review please! Let me know what you think or any ideas that could help me capture Miyuki's personality more. Ja ne!