Smile

Yamamoto Takeshi was a very smiley person. He smiled when he was talking with his two best friends. He smiled when he got twenty percent on his test and was laughed because of it. He smiled when the silver-haired friend of his called him baseball freak. He always smiled wherever and in whatever the condition he was in.

You sometimes wondered how he could be that much of a cheerful person. Was it because of his optimism or just plain naivety? You were guessing it's the latter.

"Why are you smiling, Yamamoto?"

You asked the black-haired guy out of blue when he took a seat on the stone bench next to you, taking a gulp from the bottle of water in his hand.

"Hm?"

"Why are you smiling?" You repeated your question, keeping your eyes on the baseball court ahead of you.

"Because I'm happy," he answered naively, still smiling.

You looked at him for merely a second before looked back at the pitcher in the middle of the court, standing on the mound with a baseball in his gloved hand.

"Then why are you always smiling? You're not supposed to be happy all the time, are you? Either that or you're just stupidly childish."

The short spiky-haired guy hunched an eyebrow at your question and let out a heartedly laugh, amused at how straight-forward you are. "You're one interesting girl." He said as he patted your back a bit too hard.

You only sighed. He always said the same thing to almost everyone he met, didn't he? He never took anything seriously. And you started to regret asking him such a question.

But his next answer was taking you by surprise.

"You know?" He said as he took another gulp of water. "Sometimes joy is the source of a smile, but sometimes a smile can be the source of joy."

"Don't you have something that makes you smile, manager?" He asked.

You stared down at some pieces of paper in your hand; your expression remained indifferent. "...No."

Yamamoto grinned. "That's a yes." You frowned and he laughed.

"Don't you have to practice, Yamamoto?" You tried to change the subject. "The match is a week from now and slacking off here won't bring our team further."

"Ah, right." He slowly got up from the ground and stretched his arms up. "I should go back to training."

But he didn't walk off, not before he turned around and pointed a finger at his smiling mouth. "I bet you look good with it." And with that, he ran off towards the team.

Yamamoto might not know about this.

Because he couldn't tell,

And you wouldn't tell.

But for all you knew,

His smile was the thing that makes you smile.

Author's note:

Just for your information, the main character here (you) is the baseball club manager.

Hope you like it.