Hello again, I couldn't fall asleep last night so I ended up writing the second installment of Country Bumpkin. I the last chapter I had put little wavy lines as breaks to indicate a scene change but it appears they didn't show up. So while I'm trying to figure out a way around that, please be patient. You wont see much of the cannon characters until the Spring tournament starts, and this chapter is no exception to that, so sorry. I would like to thank Bar-Ohki, Tosa and xDarklightx for reviewing, you guys are awesome.
This has been changed a bit since it was first posted, I went back and fixed some grammical errors and reworded a few different sentences. The same shit happens though.
Michi ran frantically through the school grounds, checking nearly every nook and cranny, "Hircus! Where are you?!" They had triple checked the fences, and any possible exits, but the students of class 2-4 couldn't figure out how Hircus kept on escaping. It had been exactly one week since Hircus ran all the way up to Shinryūji, and he had been getting out every day since.
"Michi!" the shout was the only warning the poor girl had before she was tackled to the ground. "Yori found Hircus in the staff room." A tall skinny and dark tanned skin with red-dyed hair and three piercings in one ear punk stood before her. Taking Michis hand, the boy proceeded to pick her up off the ground and drag her away, "It's time for practice."
"It's three-o'clock already?" Letting go of the iron grip he had on her hand, the boy took off down the hall running. "O-oi! Takura wait up!"
Panting slightly as she made her way out to the field, Michi was dressed in the white and green uniform of the Hiratsuka football team. Greeting her fellow teammates scattered around the field, Michi did a few stretches before running twenty-six laps around the field.
Zipping past the linemen as they did their drills- running headfirst into one-another trying to knock the other person over-, the two running-backs and five wide-receivers as they ran back and forth side-ways on the ladders laid out on the ground, and running easily past their lone quarterback as he explained to a few of the first-years who had bothered showed up on the proper way to pass.
The sun was shining, the grass was green again, Hircus was in his pen, and the Hiratsuka football team started their afternoon practice for the day. The spring tournament was only two weeks away, and they were playing the Zokugaku Chameleons first.
"Okay everyone fall in!" The drills stopped, people stopped talking and walked towards Michi as she had just finished her last lap. "Two weeks from today the Spring tournament starts, we're playing the Zokugaku Chameleons. Ahh, I know that—"
"Eh?! Michi do we have to? They're really scary, and their lines full of weird people!" Takura, one of the linemen protested. He was soon joined by the other linemen and a few of the first years.
"Takura stop scaring everyone! Look I know they're delinquents and could probably kill all of us off the field, but we're not going to let that happen. We're the Hiratsuka Scarecrows and we're not going to lose to some delinquent punks!" A few small murmurs grew among the footballers, some shuffling their feet, refusing to make eye-contact with Michi. "Everyone back to practice!"
Instead of going joining the rest of the linemen in drills, Takura sat on the ground and motioned Michi join him. "They're just nervous Naga-chan, you know we don't do well against defensive teams. Come game day everything will be fine."
A bitter laugh escaped from her mouth, "We don't do well against any team stupid, and stop calling me Naga!" Sitting down beside her fellow teammate Michi doodled circles into the rough rocky ground, running through the few trademark plays the Chameleons had few in her head.
Smiling, Takura got up and chanted, "Naga, Naga, Naga!" as he ran away at full speed towards his fellow linemen.
"Takura! You stupid kappa!" Scrambling from her position on the ground, Michi ran up and tackled him. "Stop calling me that baka-kappa."
In response all he did was grin before loudly proclaiming, "We're going to win the Christmas Bowl and when we do Naga-chans name is getting engraved on the trophy!" Rolling her eyes at her teammate's behavior, she grabbed a kicking tee and a football and proceeded to continue with practice.
There was only one more week until the Spring tournament; it had been raining for the past week. They had practiced whenever they could, and when they couldn't they went over the Chameleons previous games. "Naga-chan, Hircus got out again!" Swearing at both Takura, his habit of calling her that dreaded name and at Hircus' disappearing act, she paused in her analysis of the Chameleons last practice match, and took off running in search of the goat.
They had checked the entire school, every possible place the goat could have gone, he was nowhere to be found. Thinking back to when Hircus first got out, Michi looked up at the steep hill towards the legendary all-boys private school, the pride of Kantō; home of the Shinryūji Nagas.
Calling over her shoulder to her classmate and teammate, "Yori, I'm going to check up at Shinryūji, you guys re-check the apple field, then the pumpkin patch." The quarterback lazily waved goodbye to her before heading off to meet the rest of the goat-hunters- er search party.
Still dressed in her school uniform, the white and green over-alls with a matching bomber jacket, Michi made her way up the hill to the dragons den. "Hey Bumpkin-boy, did your goat get out again?"
Turning in the direction of the voice, Michi found herself once again face to face with Shinryūjis American football team, "Ah, yeah. Hircus must really like it up here, he keeps on getting out. Have you seen him?"
Looping an arm around the fellow footballer, Kenji promptly informed her that, "No goats today, Bumpkin-boy." Blinking, he remembered the last time the Hiratsuka student paid them a visit, "Hey why don't you join our practice today, the regulars are at the practice game and the third years are all on a fieldtrip and we're short a player."
Kenji's grip was insanely strong, and Michi couldn't help but momentarily wonder why he wasn't a regular player. "Ah, I really shouldn't, and besides I need to find Hircus."
It was only after being reassured several times that the goat would be fine, and after being goaded by several of the other players that Michi agreed to the game. "Yosh! Bumpkin-boy's on my team."
While they offered to lead Michi one of their spare uniforms, she denied figuring it to be a form a betrayal to her teammates by donning the purple and gold uniform of the Nagas.
Including Michi, there was exactly twenty-two of them in total, just enough for an old fashioned game of the sport they all worshipped. Because of her speed and lack of padding, Kenji made her be the running-back, a position she wasn't exactly used to.
The other team had gotten the kick-off and it was now team A's offense. Awkwardly holding the ball with both hands, Michi took off down the field, narrowly dodging the tackles of team B, scoring the first touchdown of the game. "Hey Bumpkin-boy you ever consider playing American football? We'll put a good word in for you with Coach Sendōda," came the cheerful response from the Shinryūji linemen.
Sighing, Michi endured the rather painful slaps on the back that her temporary teammates were giving her. "Ah Kenji-san, I can't sorry." Rubbing her now sore shoulder, Michi silently wondered why they found it so amusing that she went to an agricultural school.
The game continued on, the footballers shedding cold sweat and blood. Entering the battlefield of over 100 yards in length, the 22 warriors of the game re-entered the field for the final quarter.
It had been a painfully close game, each team refusing to give the other even room to breathe. Team B took the offensive. Michi, momentarily forgetting that she was supposed to be a running-back for the game, followed her instincts.
Honed to perfection from over five years of sweat, blood, and tears, Michi tackled the wide receiver as he caught the ball. In mid tackle just before they hit the ground, she wretched the ball out of his hands and snapped it to the nearest receiver on team A.
The receiver almost immediately fumbled the ball upon catching it; the snap was unexpected to say the least. The Nagas stopped, and Kenji quite bluntly stated, "Bumpkin-boy, you've played football before haven't you."
Her green and white jumper was stained with dirt and grass, her black hair which had previously been tied back was in a tangled mess and her dark brown eyes were silently pleading for them not to kill her. Sighing, Michi got up and after dusting some of the dirt off her pants, she bowed, "Sumimasen! I didn't mean to mislead you, I thought you knew…" trialing off, she promptly close her eyes, waiting for the beating.
Rolling his eyes, Kenji- a human wall of fat, hair, and muscle, that could no doubt kill her with one hand- smiled and gave her a big slap on the back, sending Michi to the ground, "Ah sorry Bumpkin-boy! You should have told us sooner though; we could've widened the gap in the score."
Once again getting off the ground, Michi sighed, "Ah Kenji-san, umm could you please stop calling me that."
"Sorry, sorry bumpkin-boy but I don't have anything else to call you." He laughed good heartily and once again sent her flying to the ground, he hit really hard.
Michi nearly kicked herself, they had been playing for nearly an hour and she hadn't even old them her name, no wonder they thought she was a guy, being how rude she was. "My names Michi, sorry I forgot to tell you earlier Kenji-san."
The score was 36-41, they needed one more touchdown to turn everything around and win. "Kenji-san there's 9 seconds left on the clock and its team B's offense."
Laughing a little, the large lineman grinned and said, "That's why we're going to do this…"
The regulars were returned from the practice game they had against the Seibu Wild Gunmen, a team with a good offense, but in Agon's words was nothing but 'trash'. They had slaughtered them, 83-7 Agon who had actually bothered to show up got bored on the bench and joined in the second half.
It was still early in the day, a little past noon, when the regular members of the Shinryūji Nagas returned for practice. Aside from the regulars, all the third-years had a fieldtrip that day, so only a handful of people were at practice. "What the hell are they doing?" one of the regulars mused out loud.
The remaining members of the American football club seemed to be playing a game of well football, except it appeared that they had a guest at practice. Ikkyu was the first to recognize him, "Isn't that the goat guy from Hiratsuka?"
The offensive team (team B) was attempting to use the Dragon Fly, irked that they were using that formation with an outsider participating in their practice, Coach Sendōda, was about to stop the game, when Agon stopped him.
Apparently he wasn't the only one to notice the odd formation the defensive team (Team A) was using; Ikkyu was the next one, "what's with is that oni weird formation?"
Before anyone could do anything, the play had started. The line surged forward, in an attempt to blitz the quarter-backs before the confusion of the Dragon Fly took place. What was odd though, was that the remaining players, instead of joining in on the blitz, ran past the line and quarter back as if getting in position for a pass.
It was a free-for-all made of chaos and confusion, people were running everywhere. One of the quarterbacks on team B ran forward, only to be tackled by the Hiratsuka student as soon as he moved past the line, he didn't have the ball.
'Shit!' was Michis silently curse as she ran after the second quarter-back. She caught up to him twenty yards before a touchdown, and team A's solid defeat.
Forcing her legs forward, she was right behind him as she leapt. Her right arm shot forward grabbing his shoulder, her foot twisted around his and she turned him around. Her left hand snatched he ball and with but a second before they reached the ground, she threw it.
It was probably one of the worst long passes they had ever seen. Cursing their luck the, team B desperately ran backwards, trying to block as many receivers as they could. The ball was flying wildly in the air; it could have landed anywhere, that's why they had everyone spread out.
One of the first years, almost caught it. The ball hit him on the head before bouncing onto the ground, where a human pile formed; each trying to make sure their team had the ball. The nine seconds that they had had were now zero, it was game over and they had lost. Jogging over to the lineman Michi apologized, "Ah sorry Kenji-san but I told you it wasn't going to work, I can't throw to save my life."
Waving it off as nothing Kenji grinned and loudly hollered, "Dog-pile on Bumpkin-boy!!" Michi had barely enough time to breathe when ten teenage boys suddenly tackled her.
Getting up from the ground, Michis' bones and muscles protested to the movement, everything hurt. It was during team B's victory cry that everyone noticed the regulars and coach had returned. Flushing darkly, Kenji and one of team B's safeties apologized; they were the ring-leaders of the event.
Coach Sendōda was just about to tell the Hiratsuka student to get off of their field, when one of the seconds years, -Kenji was it?- dragged the boy up to him, "Coach Sendōda-sensei! Please let Bumpkin-kun join Shinryūji!"
"Ahhh?!" Michi hastily pulled herself out of Kenji's iron grip, "Kenji-san you baka! I don't want to join Shinryūji!"
Blinking the lineman hadn't expected that as a reaction, "But Bumpkin-kun, Hiratsuka doesn't have a football team and you're really good." It all made perfect sense to him as to why the agricultural student should transfer schools and join the team.
"Baka, of course we have a football team!" pointing proudly to herself she continued, "I'm Nagare Michi, captain and cornerback of the Hiratsuka Scarecrows!"
I was going to go further but I figured that was a good line to stop at. Before I forget; this will only by updated on the weekends as I remembered exactly how evil my teachers are (That and it gives me time to think of really evil plot twists ^^). In the next installment you'll learn more about the Hiratsuka Scarecrows, and possibly see the beginning of the Spring tournament.