Chapter 54.

Niou headed to school, thankful that there wasn't any morning practice. Apparently even Yukimura had his limits. He sighed when he walked into the building, the familiar arguments of Suzuki and Ito filling the lobby. Marui was also at his cubby. When Niou got closer, Marui said, "Ten minutes and continuing."

"I am going to find whoever does this and killing them!" Suzuki shrieked. She was on her toes, trying to reach her shoes, which someone had moved into a higher cubby. She hated being short. She hated it even more when people harassed her about being short. Ito stood beside her, laughing. "And I'm going to kill you if you don't shut up!"

"You sure you don't want me to help?" Ito asked. He curled his lips into his mouth to keep himself from laughing.

She stuck her foot into a cubby hole, boosting herself up. Her hips protested – she wished she could kill cramps, too. She came back down, shoes in hand, smiling like she had saved the world. "Suck on that, Ito."

"I'll see you at afternoon practice, Toots," he said. He flashed her a grin before walking away.

Marui began talking about something, but was interrupted when Suzuki walked over, complaining about Ito. "Giant ogre with shit for brains."

"Akira, make up your mind," Marui said. "Jump him, or knock him over the head with a baseball bat. Just decide already."

She poked him. "Don't be mean to me. You said you would buy me a smoothie and a fruit bowl because I won the Prefectural Tournament. That was ages ago."

"Fruit salad."

"Bunta, I don't care what you call fruit bowls. Just buy me food."

Marui groaned. "Akira, I was high on victory. You seriously expect me to buy you food?"

"Yes."

"I hate you."

"I still want food."

Niou rolled his eyes. "If you didn't have a vagina, we both probably would have punched you by now," he said. It was a half-lie. That girl did drive him insane sometimes, but he wasn't the type of person to punch anyone, even a guy.

Suzuki looked down. "Thank you, Vagina." She looked at Niou, her eyebrows raised slightly. "Yeah, I just did that. I'll see you guys in class. I gotta run ahead and do some last minute studying for the English exam."

"That's tomorrow," Marui said. "How 'bout I buy you an organizer instead of food?"

She hummed, thinking about it. Then she shook her head. "No, I definitely want food. Can we go today? I'm craving something sweet."

Marui sighed. "Yeah, we can go today."

She smiled. "Cool. See you guys in class."

She walked off, practically jogging up the stairs. A minute later, the two boys were walking towards the stairs to get to class. They passed Kirihara, who was walking with that guy he was always with. The girl was hanging behind them, holding hands with someone who the two assumed was her boyfriend. Their actions looked awkward and forced like something terrible had happened and they were pretending it hadn't.

Weird.

.

During lunch, the three third years picked at their food. There wasn't anything interesting going on in Suzuki's life, or in Marui's, and Niou wasn't the type to start talking about his personal life without any reason. Even if he had a reason, he probably wouldn't say too much with Suzuki there.

"Anyone know any good conversation starts?" Marui asked as he poked at his rice. He looked at Niou, as though he would know some. There was some logic behind it. Niou went to parties where people mingled. Then again, the last party he went to ended with him running around with Sato.

Niou shrugged.

"What do you think about raising ostriches?" Suzuki asked.

Niou stared. Marui, however, thought it was a perfectly normal question. "I love it. Ostriches can solve all of the problems in the world. Need a labor force? Ostrich army."

"My pet penguin, Pen-pen, can help," she said. "He leads a duck army."

Marui grinned, remembering that conversation. "Don't forget the ninja assassin dogs."

"The ostriches can fly those badass planes with the guns," she added. "They can drop their eggs on top peoples' heads because those suckers have some big eggs. Like, seriously. Those mamas are beasts for laying those things."

"I'm changing the subject because I'm wondering if I can hit your jugular with my chopsticks," Niou said. "Superhero names. Pick one."

"Nuclearo," Suzuki said. "I'd have nuclear powers. I'd make everyone shorter than me."

"Mine would be better than that," Niou said arrogantly. "I'd be the Trickster."

"That's your nickname now," Marui pointed out.

"Maybe I am a superhero," he said mysteriously. Suzuki rolled her eyes.

"Mine would be Ostrich Man," Marui said. "Or Genius Ostrich Man."

Niou snorted. "Yeah, you'll try to fly, run into a fence, and break a tooth."

"Will you stop it with the tooth?" Marui asked. "It was back in junior high. It's still not funny. It will probably never be funny."

"You're right," Suzuki said, grinning, "it's hilarious."

Marui tossed rice into her hair.

.

At the end of the day, Suzuki headed off to practice. Even though they had won the Prefectural Tournament, there was still Kanto Regionals, which was the first big battle. Her drive to get to Nationals had spread through the softball team, and the girls were working harder than ever to reach that goal. The baseball team was taking it up to the next level, too, determined to take home another National title.

After stretches and running, Ito ordered everyone to do catching practices. Suzuki sat under a tree, watching her team work as she wrapped her arms around herself. She wanted to be out there practicing with them, but her hips hurt from cramps and she was tired from staying up late studying for a test she didn't even have.

Her eyes were half closed from exhaustion when she saw Ito walking towards her. He sat down next to her and said, "Go home. Get some rest. You look like you're about to die."

"Can't die yet," she mumbled in reply. "I'm going to Sweat Treats with Bunta after practice because he owes me a fruit bowl and smoothie. I want that smoothie damn it."

"Right. The red headed guy you're always with," Ito said, nodding.

"Are you jealous of Bunta?"

"Jealously generally comes with dating. We're not dating."

She rested her head against his shoulder. "Obviously."

"You used to hate me," he mentioned casually. "Well, maybe not hate, but strong dislike. What's up with you, Toots? Earlier today you were calling me an ogre, or a tall bastard, or another one of your lovely comments. That time of the month?"

"Yes, it is, so shut up before I punch you."

She felt like she was talking to Marui, yet it was completely different at the same time. Ito and Marui had a similar personality at times, but she felt like she could trust Ito more. Maybe it was because Marui never thought of her as a girl, and that he left her alone when she was hurt because she was "strong." Ito was different; he realized that sometimes she needed to just talk to someone, that she wasn't an emotional rock who could deal with everything.

She didn't care how they were similar and different. The two played completely different roles in her life. Marui was her best friend. Ito was something else.

She let out a sigh and kept talking. "And I never hated you, even after that thing in junior high. I just didn't want to let you get the chance to do something like that again. Not gonna lie, but you were a total douche in junior high. You're less of a douche now, so I talk to you. Don't go and turn into a girl. I'm the one with the lady parts, so stop over thinking things. Just be a guy and take things at face value."

"You're using my shoulder as a pillow. I'm seeing that as a couple of things."

"It means I'm tired and I need a pillow."

"Okay. Then I'll stop writing poems in my head for when you say you love me." He smiled slightly when she snorted. "You know, I'm sorry for what I said back then. If it counts for anything, you're not a flat chested freak anymore. I mean, you're still kinda flat, not that I'm looking. But you're not a freak."

Suzuki grinned. "Stop checking me out or I'll kill you."

"Would this be before or after you punch me?"

"After."

"Sadist."

She laughed softly, and he laughed with her. For some reason, she couldn't stop thinking about how she knocked out his two front teeth with a kickball when they were five. He would stick gum where the teeth were supposed to be and say his new teeth were purple.

When they finally stopped laughing, she realized his hand was on top of hers and his fingers were laced with hers. It was hidden by their legs so their teams wouldn't notice. The grass felt itchy. Her palm was all sweaty. His fingers were calloused. She should have pulled her hand out of his, but she didn't. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she knew she could get used to the feel of his hand in hers.

She closed her eyes, letting out a breath through her nose. He murmured something about sweet dreams, and how he would protect her from any balls their idiot teammates threw in their direction.

.

When Suzuki woke up, Marui was sitting in front of her, working on homework. Her head was no longer on Ito's shoulder; it was resting on Marui's bag, her shoulder digging into the ground. She sat up, and he glanced at her.

"You were asleep when I got here," Marui said. "We'll do Sweet Treats tomorrow, okay?"

She wanted to ask where Ito was, but she didn't. Instead, she looked at the English book in front of Marui. "I memorized all of the vocabulary words last night," she said. "I can quiz you."

Marui nodded and closed his textbook so he couldn't see the answers. She was acting strange. When she woke up, she usually went straight back to sleep unless there was something on her mind. He didn't ask because she was saying words in English and he had no idea what they were in Japanese.


A/N: When life gives you lemons, buy an ostrich.