SIF Diaries

Chapter 3

Baseball Set

Note: This one is a recently thought-out set that I thought could be a good back story so I hope you all enjoy.

With Muse's success, they've decided to make some changes to their practice schedule. During the week, they have dance practice as a group, but on the weekend, they have buddy practice. What happens is that buddies are decided randomly and they work on all things idol related. Cardio, flexibility, dancing, and chemistry were all things that were worked on.

Now that it was Saturday, the buddies were now being decided. Rin and Umi were the first pair. Kotori and Hanayo were the second pair. Eli and Maki were the third pair. Honoka, Nozomi, and Nico were the last group since they were an odd numbered group.

Eli and Maki began their workout quite early and decided to go with cardio. Eli was really good when it came to cardio because of her ballet background, but Maki needed some help with it. To keep it easy, they decided to run around the block, but eventually, they picked up the pace. As this continued to go on, Eli started to notice Maki's energy start to wane. Her speed and consistency were significantly lower than when they first started. When it was time to run a mile, Maki immediately showed her true colors.

"Ugh, why do we have to keep running?"

"Maki-chan, you should know that this is for you. Cardio is important for us idols and we can't be getting tired midway through a song."

"Wait a second, why are you singling me out?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You said that this training is for me."

"It is."

"I have good cardio. I don't know what you're talking about."

At that moment, Eli started to get a little nervous because she knew that Maki's cardio wasn't the best. All of the other girls even knew that her cardio wasn't the best, but she did her best to hide the fact about her.

"Eli-chan, you're not being honest with me. You don't think I can do it, can you?"

"Of course I think you can do it. I just feel that it's better that we finish this training. It'll make us all better." Eli looked right at Maki and could see her getting annoyed with what she was telling her.

"You know… Now that I think about it, I'm not in the mood to finish training."

"Maki-chan, don't be like that."

"I will be like that because I believe I have great cardio. Apparently, you and the others don't believe that so let's put that to the test."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't like running, but I can do sports really well. Let's play a game of a baseball and that'll decide whether I have good cardio."

"Maki-chan, I see what you're trying to say, but I don't that'll justify you having good cardio whether you win or lose."

"I'm not listening to you." At that moment, she pulled out her phone and dialed the number of the group chat.

"Hey Maki-chan, what's up?"

"Everybody. We are meeting up at the park in 10 minutes. Bring all of the baseball equipment you can find. I'll tell you the rest when we're there." She hung up promptly.

…

After some time, the rest of the group met up at the park with all of the necessary equipment Maki asked for. They all lined up and waited for whatever Maki had to tell them.

"So I called us all here because I need to know something. Eli-chan believes I have the worst cardio in the group. Is that true?"

No one responded. Maki looked around and suddenly grew really sad, but she immediately turned her head in annoyance.

"Well then… We'll have to settle this with my original plan of a baseball game. If my team wins, you guys have to stop pestering me about my cardio. I'll work on it at my own pace. If Eli's team wins, I'll do as much cardio as you want."

"Eh?!"

"What?"

"My team?"

"Yeah. You started this so you'll have to take responsibility for it."

"Hm. If it's going to be that way, I get to choose first."

"Then I get the extra player since we're odd."

"Works for me. Let's start picking and I'm going to pick Umi."

"That's not fair."

"How is that not fair? I get to choose first and she's my pick."

"But Umi-chan is the most athletic one here."

"Well, then it sucks for you."

"Hmph! Then I'll go with Honoka-chan."

"Interesting. That leaves me with Rin-chan."

After that, Maki ended up picking Nico, Nozomi, and Hanayo. That left Eli with Kotori. Now that the teams were picked, Eli started with the bats and Maki started on the field.

At a glance, Eli's team had the advantage. She had the super athletic Umi, energetic Rin, and supportive Kotori. Eli was smart because she knew Umi and Kotori had a thing and by picking Kotori, it would boost Umi's abilities tenfold. At the same time, Maki had a good team as well because the chemistry of the girls on her team were very close. If things got messy, she knew that they wouldn't break so easily.

When the game started, Eli's team had a clear advantage. Umi and Rin were doing the most work. They were hitting balls everywhere and making plays to stop Maki's team from getting on base. Meanwhile, Eli was just doing her job as team captain. On the other side of the field, Maki was just trying to stay in the game. Everyone on her team had a smile on their face which meant that they weren't out of it yet. She just wanted a comfortable lead instead of trying to catch up.

When the end of the game started to get near, Kotori injured her hand during a play. This also caused Umi's attention to turn towards her instead of the game. Maki saw this change of momentum and capitalized on it. Her team started to smash the ball on every pitch. They were making plays that didn't seem possible. Eventually, Maki's attitude changed. At the same time, Eli's attitude changed as well. The game was going to be a close one.

At the top of 9th, the game was tied 4-4. Umi went up to bat and her mind was still on Kotori's injury so she ended up striking out. Rin was up next and she managed to get a single. Kotori was after her, but she ended up striking out. When it was Eli's turn, she did her best to concentrate. She managed to hit a clean one down the third base line which ended up bringing in Rin for a point. That meant Umi was up again. She hit a hard groundball towards Honoka, but Honoka managed to make the play that ended the inning. The score was now 5-4 in Eli's favor.

At the bottom of the 9th, Maki's team was on-edge. It wasn't super important that they win, but they didn't want to let Maki down. First up was Nozomi. She ended up hitting a fly ball right to Umi would made the play. Hanayo was next who hit a groundball to Eli for another out. The potential last batter was Maki. As she stepped up to the plate, she looked out to the field and saw Eli as pitcher, Umi as the in-fielder, and Kotori and Rin as the outfielder. Maki knew that her best chance was to hit it to Kotori and hope for the slip up.

When she was ready to hit, Eli threw a pitch and it was a strike. The next two were balls and the one after that was a strike. The count was 2-2 and Maki was getting nervous about the whole thing. As Eli winded up her pitch, something happened that caused the ball to slip out of Eli's hand too soon. This slip up ended up being a slow ball right down the middle. She swung as hard as she could and it ended up heading right towards Kotori.

Maki rounded first as the Kotori tried to pick up the ball. She had difficulties but thankfully, Rin ran over to her and threw back to the in-field. Maki was now midway to third base. As she rounded third, she saw Umi catch the ball and throw it into home plate where Eli was waiting. Only now did she realize what was going to happen. Running around the diamond was a tall order and because of her current ability, she was starting to slow down. As she neared home plate, she saw Eli catch the ball and she knew that it was over.

"Yay! We did it! Good job guys!"

"That was so close. I can't believe we did it."

As Eli's team celebrated a victory, Maki's team was a little gloomy. They watched them cheer with smiles on their faces. That's when Maki stepped forward and addressed them all.

"I get it. I'm not athletic enough. I don't have enough cardio. I'll train however much you want. Are you happy now?"

Eli looked at her and smiled.

"Maki-chan, there's no need to get mad. You proved that you're able to do strenuous things. We'll all work on cardio together and maybe, someday, we'll have a rematch. However, I don't think you'll be able to win."

"That's what you think. We'll win for sure next time."

"Don't get too big-headed. The only reason why it was close was because Kotori got injured and my star player has a soft spot for her."

"Whatever."

End of Chapter 3