Dedication: My friend Abyssesartisan who will kill me unless I finish this fanfic! Love ya! Disclaimer: Princess Nine doesn't belong to me, or I'd have Hiroki running around in nothing but a codpiece. ^_^;;;;
It was raining again. Izumi frowned at her window in annoyance, wishing that with a glare the clouds would go away so the girl could practice. She tried once more to mentally make the rain stop, narrowing her eyes and forcing her face into the nastiest glare she possibly could, the one that had some of her teachers shivering in their shoes. Obviously Mother Nature was not so impressed, as it only began to rain even harder, with occasional booms of thunder, and random flashes of lightening. Izumi sighed and got up from the window, idly wandering around her room, giving the medals glances, memories of how each medal was won forming as she looked at each. But these medals did not gently bring to mind past triumphs. The triumphs that normally would make one smile in remembrance only served as painful reminders that not once, to any of those many victories, did her mother attend. It was remembering memories such as these that made Izumi practice frantically, obsessively, dangerously. Her mind going blank, easily forgetting the feeling of the walls of a cage trapping her. She frowned in thought, eyeing the bat in the corner, where once her tennis racquets used to dwell, idly going over why she had decided to give up her tennis in the first place. It had nothing to do with the team needing her, no, nor did it have to do with liking the game of baseball or just being good at it. She remembered a conversation she had with Hiroki while the baseball team was playing its first game.
Hiroki had mentioned that some of the baseball games overran with the tennis tournaments. He had wondered aloud which Izumi's mother would attend. Something inside of the girl had just snapped. She mindlessly dropped the racquet to the ground and walked, as if in a trance towards the locker room near the baseball diamond. She barely remembered putting on the uniform, grabbing a bat and walking out to help the team in the nick of time, knowing full well that now her mother would have to pay attention to her. Knowing that finally she'd get some of the attention she deserved. Ryo could only be the center of attention half the time. But the ace pitcher could do only that... pitch... there was an entirely other aspect.. When it was the girls turn at the bat... Izumi would shine. Then Izumi could show her mother what she had missed out on while her daughter was growing up. A smile of triumph lit up Izumi's features. With a win at Koshien her mother would truly appreciate the lady Izumi was becoming… the lady she already was.
Koshien…
After the loss to the boys it felt as if the girls had to go even farther to get to their goal. She could say that at the time she truly hated Hiroki for hitting that home run, he had become an obstacle she could not surpass. Her thoughts turned to she who had thrown the lightning ball and she immediately walked over to gather the shocked girl in her arms in a hug. It was at this game where Izumi finally learned how to be a team mate. The idea of what it truly meant to belong to a team that the other girls had been trying to tell her ever since the season began had finally clicked within the girl's brain. Team mates didn't just support each other on the field, but off as well. It was a family. And Izumi realized, that it was something she had been secretly wishing for, for most of her life. She doubted that she would ever become truly close to her nine team mates. Izumi was not the kind of person who freely gave her trust out as a certain Hayakawa Ryo did, but she also knew that if trouble too deep for her to handle on her own should fall upon her shoulders, they would support her no matter what. Her team gave her something her mother never had. Izumi smiled as she remembered something she had read on a poster in one of her teacher's rooms. "There was no 'i' in team." With that she glanced out the window and growled in frustration. For the love of God when would it stop raining?!
Unlike her disgruntled team mate, Nene was perfectly cheerful even with the dreary weather. Rain or shine, nothing dowsed the manager's cheerful spirit. On this rainy day one could find her seated on a high stool leaning over a bar at the edge of the large open kitchen. She was leaning over, flipping through another cookbook, pausing every once in a while to jot down a few ideas. It was never too early to start planning the year's treats. Plus that American woman... What was her name? Marsha? Martha? Mary? whatever... had just come out with a new cookbook with delectable treats Nene was 110% positive her team would die for.
Coach had even mentioned in an offhanded way the girls may get more team mates! Nene couldn't be sure as to whether or not he was kidding or not. Perhaps he had just been more drunk than normal and was spouting nonsense. His breath did smell more than normal. One couldn't really tell with him, and Nene wasn't about to waste her time debating when there were many more important things in her life, like getting the latest Rumiko Takahashi manga! She had completely fallen in love with that one about the dog demon and that girl who was sucked into a well, though it was rather difficult to try and apply it to real life.
The girl hastily pushed one silvery curl out of her eyes and looked at her neatly written list and smiling gleefully before folding it crisply and putting it in a pocket. She had decided the team had taken up enough time on the rainy day, now she would rush upstairs to read the latest comic she had received from her father.
The manager tried to ignore how loud her steps sounded echoing on the marble floors of the overly large mansion. The dead silence and darkened house merely served to remind her how lonely it was without mother around to keep her company. Especially with Father always away on business, he never had any time to spend with her any more. She swallowed the lump in her throat, pushed away the loneliness and tried to look at the bright side, Perhaps she'd get to see him this weekend, though who could be sure? Ah well... Takahashi awaited.
A Few weeks later the 10 girls of the dream baseball team could be found at Koshien stadium… in the stands of course to watch Kisaragi Boys pull out an economy sized can of whup ass against... Rinkai. Yes the Koshien veterans that the girls had beaten in the first place! Ryo, in part to an extra ticket Hiroki's grandfather just happened to have, was seated in the front row right next to the Kisaragi Dugout. She was so close she could overhear the conversations the coach was having with the players.
"Popcorn?" Ryo spun around to see Hiroki's kindly Grandfather holding out a bag to her. She smiled, sat back, grabbed a handful of kernels and relaxed. ******
The game had been close, Rinkai had obviously improved, and for some reason Kisaragi hadn't managed to absolutely trounce the team to a pulp. Both teams had been making silly mistakes which one wouldn't expect from the two teams that had gotten to the Championships! The pitcher had held his own for Rinkai, and it seemed only Hiroki could hit anything the man threw! The same went for Rinkai, only a few select batters could hit the Kisaragi's pitches. Now it was bottom of the ninth (No this WON'T be clichéd) with Kisaragi at bat, with no outs, but no runs and the game was tied. Hiroki was going to be second up to bat, and was warming up.
He suddenly looked up, meeting Ryo's eyes. He smiled mischievously before strutting over, leaning up to look at her. Ryo frowned as she stood up to peer into his face, a stern lecture was soon pouring from her lips.
"Hiroki shouldn't you be practicing, it's almost your turn to-"
"Kiss me."
"WHAT?!" She shrieked in violation, blushing heavily. He gave her a slow easy grin.
"Kiss me." He repeated that cocky grin never leaving his face. She glared in indignation.
"Hiroki stop kidding around!" She whispered, noticing they were creating quite a stir in the stands and on the field. The batter before him had managed to walk and the umpire was gazing over at that way, trying to look stern but amusement clearly written in his eyes. Ryo leaned forward to hiss an order to her arrogant batter to get his butt on the field but before she could even open her mouth he had stretched up and brushed his lips against hers for a brief moment before he was gone and at bat, leaving Ryo frozen in the spot. The first pitch came in, a sly grin only seen when playing baseball lit up the boy's face as he swung. This was too easy. A deep fly ball, a 100% guarantee to fly outta the park.. If only… Hiroki's eyes narrowed and he mumbled a small curse under his breath. Down the line… "Foul Ball!" The batter decided to blame the foul ball on the dazed feeling he was left with after kissing his Ganmo-chan. A quick scan to that area of the stands confirmed that yup... She was still frozen stiff, though a hand had managed to find it's way to her mouth and was rubbing it softly. She was still standing, a bit hunched over, eyes glazed. Hiroki smirked in pride before shifting his line of sight back to the pitcher. This time...that ball was gonna be outta here.
The next hit went out dead center and it appeared it was going to win this game for Kisaragi, thought it was a bit low… the centerfielder had leapt against the wall, his glove stretched out. The crowd was in tense silence watching the ball's silent course over the field. Hiroki narrowed his eyes, squinting to see what had happened.. was it good? The centerfielder jumped to the ground, glove close to his stomach.
Damn it! Did he have the freakin ball or not? Hiroki wanted to scream in frustration the crowd started cheering but he couldn't figure for the life of him whether or not it was for his hit or if the fielder had caught the blasted ball. His eyes trailed to his team mate on first.. But.. He was no longer on first.. His head swiveled back to the fielder to see him holding up an empty glove. Immediately the batter leapt up into the air from joy and skipped his way around the diamond back to an excited team at the end.
But the best moment of this day wasn't when his team lifted him up on their shoulders, nor was it when they had received their medals, or was it the defeated look of the other team... But it was when he looked to the stands and the only thing he could see was the pride and love shining in Ryo's eyes.
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