The day after, when the flying ship returned to Reingar, Al went and met his friends, who welcomed him back. After some paperwork, the first thing Cerise and Pavel did was to explore the university, which they enjoyed it, just like Al the first time he came here.
A week later, Al and Tamarinne were having a walk on a corridor, near the baseball field. For some reason, Al seemed very interested in this sport.
"Can you tell me about your parents?" Tamarinne asked and she hoped that she did not bother him. It was pure curiosity.
"Hm… where should I start?" Al did not mind the question at all. He only felt it was a normal thing if she wanted to know more about him. After considering, he started, "Let's start with my father first. He was… kind of an awkward man."
"Like so?"
"Sometimes, he was quiet and sometimes, he was very lousy. But I had never seen he made my mom sad, even once. You remember he was a military trainer, right? In Constella, the army power comes from magic and sorcerers, so my father barely had any work to do. Then my mother encouraged him to go to Perland, where he was shined. But thanks for that, he only returned home once a month. When I was fifteen, he retired and came back to Constella. Most of the time, he spent time doing farm work with other Suin villagers and trained with me. When my mom went to work, he helped her do the housework and he was pretty good with it."
"He sounds like a great man," Tamarinne smiled and commented.
"No, not really. He lived with the motto, when we face a critical situation, ask for women's advice, and do exactly the opposite. He told me that with that method, we can overcome anything," Al said.
"And do you believe him?" she asked.
Al shook his head and replied, "I've never been in such a situation before, so I can't really tell…" then he looked at her, "Maybe he was right."
Tamarinne pushed him slightly and pretended she was angry, while Al laughed joyfully.
"It was all fun until my seventeenth birthday…" Al crossed his arms and looked at the air lifelessly as if he remembered something terrible.
"What do you mean?" Tamarinne wondered.
"On that day, he and his friends forced me to drink alcohol, a lot of alcohol…" Al answered. He still remembered the moment he was the core of the party, standing on a table, drinking cups by cups, while being surrounded and encouraged by many full naked people, including humans and Suins.
Tamarinne was speechless, "That sounds unhealthy, really…" she said.
After that, Al smiled and told her, "Thankfully, when my mom returned, she rescued me and punished them considerably. Miraculously, none of them dared to stand against her. My dad was forced to leave the house in a week, and spent another one on the armchair."
"If I was her, I would do the same," Tamarinne laughed.
"No doubt," he did the same. Suddenly, he turned sad and she wondered what happened. It took Al a few seconds to hold himself when he remembered his mother. Then, he told her, "As you know, I spent my of my childhood times with my mom. Aside from teaching me, she took care of all of the housework. There was a time I thought it was normal, and it was a woman's duty. And then, when she got sick and barely got up, I realized I was deadly wrong. The next couple of days, no clean clothes, no tasty meals, everything was cold and dirty. Despite that, she still tried doing them. And when I tried helping her and did the housework, I realized how amazing she was."
In a second, Tamarinne could clearly see a tear rolled from his eyes. Understand his feelings, Tamarinne crossed her fingers with his and leaned on him.
"Sorry…" Al quickly wiped out his tear, "I shouldn't cry, right? A man shouldn't."
"When we experience a strong emotion, it's okay to cry, whether it is man or woman," she replied and softly comforted him.
"Yeah…" Al nodded. "And when they were no longer at home, I had never felt it that cold and empty before."
He stopped, and Tamarinne did not want to remind him of the pain. He had been through a lot but he never acted like he was the most tragic person in the world. He hid his pain and suffering, and never willed to share it with anyone. He always cheered his friends up but no one had ever done the same to him before. Tamarinne understood his feelings and he did not want him to hold them and keep distant from everyone. She was determined that she would do everything so that he would never feel alone again.
"Come on, let's play some games."
As she said, Tamarinne grabbed Al's arm and dragged him to the baseball field, where both male and female students were playing. When they came closer, they realized Cerise and Pavel were here.
"Al, Tamarinne?" Pavel was surprised to see them.
"Hi," Al greeted him before he turned to the one who was excited the most, "You seem to have a lot of fun, Cerise."
"I already love the game when it came to Aakhen, remember the culture exchange festival?" Cerise replied.
"Too bad that after a few months, it isn't popular as football," Pavel commented. He then looked at Al and asked, "What about you? Which one do you prefer?"
"Baseball," Al answered without thinking.
"Since we're here, why don't we play a match?" Cerise suggested.
Al and Tamarinne looked around and counted everyone before they sighed disappointingly. Al said, "Seems like we don't have enough players for two teams."
"How about we take a few days to gather players?" Tamarinne asked and they seemed to agree before they dismissed.
Three days later, on the baseball field, many students were gathering and sook for a place to sit down. Meanwhile, all the players were surprised. They did not expect to have many audiences here since they intended to have a play-for-fun match.
When Al came to the girl's side, he asked, "Does anyone have any idea what's going here?"
Seeing him, the young researcher, Carrot, answered him, "Well… the idea was Hazel's. When I asked if she wanted to join, she only said "I'll consider". I didn't expect her to organize a match and sold tickets."
"Probably she wanted to make some profits for Reingar's fund," the Reingar's president, Yuna, added.
"I can understand that…" Al sighed. He then looked on the electrical board and asked, "But why the hell should it be "Boys versus Girls"?"
"No idea," all the female players answered at the same time but Al could see some of them was really having fun, including Tamarinne.
"Probably it was Hazel's work as well," Yuna heavily sighed with him. "How is your team doing?"
"They were surprised at first but…" Al replied, and then he stopped when he looked at the boys' team. It seemed like they were having fun as if they wanted to use this chance to prove themselves to the girls. Al said, "I really don't know what to say…"
"Ah, there is a request from Tamarinne," Yuna said.
"What kind?"
When Al was wondering, Tamarinne heard their conversation. She then came to them and answered, "I want you to be the fourth batter."
"Uhm… what's so special about it? I thought every position is equal?" Al asked doubtfully.
"If you don't know, then don't bother with it. Just know that it is a silly request from me," Tamarinne smiled and Al could clearly she was hiding something. He looked at Yuna but she shook her head, as she did not have the answer.
"I'll go back, then."
When Al returned to his team, Tamarinne and Yuna smiled mysteriously, and they even shook hands.
"Now you're satisfied, Pitcher Somi?" Yuna asked.
"Of course," Tamarinne smiled at her. Then, she said, "I want to see him be a pitcher, too."
"Aren't you being greedy?" Yuna opened her eyes widely when she looked at her childhood friend. Then, she commented, "Somehow, I cannot reject the idea that Al is the fourth batter."
"In baseball manga, isn't the fourth batter, who is also the protagonist, the coolest one?" Tamarinne said.
"Yeah, yeah, "my boyfriend is the best", I know," Yuna tilted her head from left and right as if she was annoyed with Tamamine's sentence.
"Did you learn anything?" Pavel asked when Al returned.
"Apparently, this is a match that makes money for Reingar's fund," Al said.
"Yeah, I know where the idea came from," a male student commented. Then he said, "Okay, let's round it up. For unknown reasons, a request from Tamarinne said that Al must be the fourth batter. I have no idea why."
"Because it's an important position?" Pavel wondered.
"No idea. I thought everyone is important no matter which role they play," another male student, who took the shortstop position, answered.
"Well, guess we should just ignore it," Al suggested and everyone agreed with him. He then asked, "So, does everyone finish choosing the positions?"
"We already did. I will be the pitcher, and you will be the catcher," Pavel replied and no one disagreed.
"I think you two would be a good combination. No pressure here but we will depend a lot on you if we want to win this," the centerfielder said.
Al and Pavel looked at each other before they looked at the other's eyes full of expectation. Al unwittingly said, "We'll see."
"So which team will attack first?" the male left fielder asked.
Al slapped Pavel's shoulder when he saw Cerise and Hazel, the secretary of the Reingar president, coming to them. Al reminded him, "Make sure we have the advantage."
"Got it," Pavel nodded and he stepped close to the two girls.
Hazel tied her long hair and drew a coin from her long-sleeve purple shirt's pocket. When Pavel and Cerise faced each other, Hazel was about to toss the silver coin on the air but Pavel stopped her. They then had a little chat and Pavel turned back to his team.
"What were you talking about?" Al asked.
"Cerise wanted to let us bat first. Of course, there was no way I let it slip so I agreed," Pavel replied and the whole team was stunned. Wondering, he asked, "What's wrong?"
"The team who bats in the second half of the inning always has the advantage…" another student commented and it unsurprisingly shocked Pavel. The student then looked at the girl team and said, "Well, at least we have the advantage of fitness."
"How can be you be so sure about it?" Al doubted.
"Well… you know, girls don't have physical strength like boys, right?" he replied.
"If you think so, then you're deadly wrong," Al commented when he was wearing all the necessary equipment. Thinking anything else would not do anything well, Al looked at the baseball and the boy team's positions the last time, before the first batter from the girl team went to the on-deck circle, while the second and the third batter waited for their turn.
When Cerise returned to her team, Yuna asked, "How is it going?"
"As expected," Cerise gave a victory sign.
"But do you think it's okay to trick Pavel like that?" Tamarinne commented. Somehow, she did not like Cerise's action.
"I know. Although we're all here playing for fun, I still want us to win," Cerise smiled. "Besides, compared to boys, our physical strength isn't as strong as them so it is nothing wrong if they go easy on us a little."
The excuse did not satisfy Tamarinne. It was not like she did not like playing the game, it was just that she wanted to play in a fair fight.
Rikoris, a young man who had short black hair, was stressed when he was standing on the on-deck circle. As the team arranged, he would be the right fielder and also was the first batter. Looking at the audience, he was even more nervous. Seeing his body was shaking, Al came close to him and slapped his shoulder softly.
"Guardian Al?" Rikoris was surprised to see him and greeted him formally.
"Right now, I'm not a guardian or anything, just a baseball player like you," Al replied. "What's wrong?"
"I feel like I will make a mistake," Rikoris looked at the baseball field and answered.
"Tell me, who doesn't make a mistake in their life?" Al asked and Rikoris was stunned. The young man did not know how to answer him and he looked away. Al then said, "Don't you forget, we are always behind you. If you make a mistake and fell down, we will pull you up. And remember, it's okay to be afraid, it's okay to be nervous, as long as you know when to stop."
"But sir…" Rikoris still kept his pessimism.
"Instead of regretting doing nothing, why don't you stop thinking and try all your best?" Al said.
"I will try not to fail you, sir," Rikoris nodded.
"You don't have to fail me, or fail anyone. It depends on you whether you want to do it or not," Al replied and the moment he finished his line, he was ready to replace Rikoris by someone else. Fortunately, Rikoris closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked at Al and nodded before he came to the right-handed batter's box.
When the girl team had done preparing their defensive position, Al was surprised that his girlfriend was the pitcher. Needless to say, he wanted to encourage her. When their eyes met each other, they exchanged their smile, and Tamarinne prepared for her first pitch.
"Not good," Al spoke when he realized something.
"What do you mean?" Pavel asked.
In the cheer of the audiences, Tamarinne perfectly struck out Rikoris three pitches, making him leave the batter's box immediately. As expected, Rikoris fell down on his knees and disappointed himself.
"What a waste of time encouraging him," Al sighed.
"Somehow, you aren't surprised with Tamarinne's throws," Pavel commented.
Al remembered the "Cooking with idols" show before. He smiled and replied, "It was not a coincidence when she knocked me out with one strike."
"Huh?" Pavel did not understand what he was saying.
The second and the third male batter stepped out and Tamarinne had no difficulty to strike them. With nine strikes, she threw many types of throws, including fastball, curveball, forkball, and many other types. From behind, Pavel was surprised that fastball was not the only type.
When the boy team came out, as the girl team expected, Pavel was playing as the pitcher and Al was the catcher. The first female batter came to the batter's box and the referee gave a sign of playing ball. Pavel threw the ball at a high speed and Al caught it successfully. However, he realized it was not a strike.
"Ball!" the referee shouted.
"Karzan?" Al was surprised when he recognized the voice of the guardian of time.
"To make it short, Yuna asked me to be a referee," Karzan replied. Then he shouted "Ball!" once again.
"Somehow, you seem to enjoy it," Al commented and Pavel threw another throw, which was seen as "ball" again.
"Walk!" Karzan shouted when Pavel threw the fourth time, which surprised Al.
When the first batter of the girl team walked to the first base, Pavel came to Al and asked, "Wait, why could she walk to the base?"
His question stunned both Karzan and Al. They signed and were speechless with his lack of information. Having no choice, Al had to explain, "The point is not letting them hit the ball, but you have to remove them by a strike. To do that, you have to throw the ball within the strike range, from the batter's knee and the midpoint of their torso. If you throw the ball out of that range, it will be called "Ball" and after the fourth time, they can walk to the first base.". After finishing, Al looked at Karzan and asked, "Did I tell him right?"
"Enough. I guess," Karzan nodded.
"Okay, let's try again," Pavel nodded and it doubted Al.
When the second batter came in, Pavel threw three fastballs, which struck out the batter perfectly. After that, Al could sigh in relief but it was not enough.
"That's impressive," Cerise commented after Pavel's performance. Obviously, she felt proud of her boyfriend.
"Yeah, but that alone won't be enough," Yuna quickly saw the problem in Pavel's throw.
When Tamarinne stepped out, the audiences exploded as their favorite idol appeared. Tamarinne did not forget to wave her hand and greeted the audience. Then she looked at Al and saw his smile, which she smiled back. However, as they were in the middle of the match, they were opponents.
Pavel looked at Tamarinne and was considering carefully. He looked at Al and waited for his signal but Al shook him off. At that moment, Pavel knew no matter where he threw, there was a high chance that Tamarinne would hit it.
"Ball!"
Karzan shouted when Pavel threw the first ball. Al quickly realized what he was intending to do. He quickly gave a signal to Pavel but it was like they did not have a better choice.
And then, Tamarinne hit the second throw. Although Pavel aimed outside of the strike zone, Tamarinne still successfully hit the ball and she quickly rushed to the first base. To make it worse, the ball touched the ground as the left fielder was about to catch it. In the end, it was a "Safe" for Tamarinne. Meanwhile, the first female batter already took second base, making it two runners for the girl team. When Tamarinne had touched the first base, she looked at Al and gave a victory sign, before he did the same to her.
"Oh well…"
Al could not comment anything when the young researcher, Carrot stepped on the batter's box.
"Sorry Al, I…," Carrot wanted to apologize to Al. It seemed she realized what Cerise did.
Al quickly comforted and encourage her, "Don't mind it. Just enjoy the game."
"Okay."
Carrot smiled in relief. She respected him and she knew he would be displeased if she went easy on them. Pavel threw the first ball and it was a strike, and so was the second one. But after the third one, the stands were silent, before they exploded again.
"Nice!"
Al congratulated Carrot for her homerun. Carrot smiled at him before she, Tamarinne and the first batter ran to the home plate. When Tamarinne and Carrot touched home plate, they slapped their hands with Al. It was awkward and weird to the audiences and the boy team, but not with the girl team.
Seeing that, Cerise looked at Yuna, "Is Miss Carrot…"
Not letting Cerise finish her line, Yuna smiled and nodded, "Yeah…"
"So, how does she feel?" Cerise asked.
"Nothing. They are close friends, nothing more, nothing less. And not always a girl and a boy should be a couple, like you and Al, isn't it?" Yuna replied and looked at Cerise, which made her agree without thinking a second. When the girl team was coming out to the field, Yuna wore her catcher's helmet and said, "Besides, Al doesn't look like a guy who gives people hope, or should I say, he's not a male protagonist of a harem manga, after all."
"Huh?!" Cerise wondered what she meant.
After the home run of Carrot, the fifth batter, Cerise and the sixth batter of the girl team came out but Pavel had no trouble striking them out. The boy team finally could have a breath of relief. At the end of the first inning, it was 3-0 for the girl team.