In this chapter, Shina mourns the death of her father. She also realizes that she is starting to develop feelings for Little Slugger. As she tries to cope with the fact that he might be with her for the rest of her life, more complications arise. Please note that this story will be a short one; so don't be surprised when the story suddenly comes to an end. The highest amount of chapters I plan on making for this fic will be at least five. If the ending is appropriate, then a sequel might be done. Or maybe I'll just make different PA fanfics. Just wait and see. :-)

Strike 3- The Birthday

The rain came down hard that day. Lil Slugger didn't come to visit Shina last night, nor that morning. Shina stayed in her room all morning long, sulking and feeling depressed. She didn't know what to do now that her father was dead. She wanted to run away, to forget. What else was going to happen to her? Her life was already ruined enough! The doorbell rang. Shina answered it and saw her two friends standing in the doorway, holding presents in their hands and a bit wet from the rain. "Surprise!" they shouted in unison. Shina barely smiled; she invited them in and sat with them at the kitchen table.

"Happy birthday, Shina-chan!" Yumi gave the girl a big hug.

"Sixteen, huh? Wow, before you know it we'll be off to college…Hm, what's wrong?" asked Minoru.

At first, Shina didn't know what to say. She was still in shock and disbelief about her father's death. It seemed too surreal. She finally found her words and said slowly, "My dad was…killed in a car accident yesterday…" tears formed in her eyes. "He was driving across the bridge to get back home from his interview…when he lost control of the car…and crashed into the river…and drowned." A waterfall of tears flowed down her face. Minoru and Yumi wrapped their arms around her to comfort her. Although they could not restore her father's life, they tried their best to make her feel better.

For the rest of the afternoon, the three friends chatted about many things, trying to keep off of the subject about Shina's dad. They sat at the table eating cake and ice cream. The presents that Shina received were a Maromi plush from Yumi and volume 9 of the "Hot Gimmick" manga from Minoru. A few hours later, the two friends returned home, and Shina was left with the strange, staring Maromi plush that sat on her bed. Shina's birthday party wasn't much of a party at all; just a grim, rainy day. Shina's mom and brother both gave her twenty dollars, regardless of the money issues. Shina, reluctantly accepted the money and sighed. She lied on her bed, squishing Maromi in her arms. She felt like she needed to hold onto something, to feel safe, to feel loved. All she could think about was Lil Slugger…

That evening, Shina snuck out of the house with her umbrella to wander the semi-dark streets. She aimlessly walked down the sidewalk, hoping to run into a stray dog to play with…or something of that sort. She came closer to the main street and started to think about committing suicide. But then she figured it'd just be a waste of time. What if the impact from one of the cars didn't kill her? Then what? The street lights blinked on, one by one. It was probably around 6 o' clock. The heavy rain started to slack up, and Shina was now seated on a bench near the bus stop. Sitting there in her loneliness, she realized that she had forgotten her mp3 player. "I need you, Lil Slugger" she cried, dropping the umbrella onto the drenched ground. She bent over and cried, wishing that she could somehow repair her corrupted life. "Lil Slugger, please…help me…please…" she cried repeatedly. And then, "You called?" she heard his voice. Shina raised her head and saw his blurry image in front of her. She wiped her eyes to clear up her vision.

"Please…hit me…Make me forget…I can't live like this anymore!" she pleaded, pulling Lil Slugger's shirt.

"No" he said abruptly.

"Why not? What's stopping you?"

"Only I can make everything better without having you lose your memory" he answered in a clever tone. He pointed his bat at her face, "So don't tell me what to do…Just let me handle everything."

Shina rose to her feet and gripped his shoulders, "Just do it! I'm begging you!" Lil Slugger didn't respond, he simply stared at her. The expression on Shina's face changed from anger, to sadness. She felt tears forming in her eyes again. Lil Slugger moved his face closer to hers, and their lips met in a kiss. After that, Shina embraced him strongly; she wanted to hold onto him for as long as she could. But suddenly, Lil Slugger broke the hug and took off; skating backwards to face the brown-haired girl. She called his name as she chased him down the sidewalk. Not being able to understand why he was acting this way, Shina started to cry. She begged for him to stop, but he simply smiled at her. His bat scraped loudly on the concrete. He made a quick change in direction and charged forward, knocking Shina onto the wet grass as he fell on top of her. The rain had completely stopped, but it was still cloudy. Lil Slugger had the most sinister smile stretched across his shadowed face as he raised his bat high. Shina gasped. "Happy Birthday" he said, and he swung…

…Shina heard someone's voice…a woman's voice. She was singing a song…a birthday song...Shina opened her eyes and her mother's face swam into view. She realized that she was back in her room.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Keitaro went outside, and found you lying on the front lawn. So he brought you in…What were you doing out there?"

"Um, I can't really remember…" Shina sat up, "Um, Mom…is Dad still…?"

"Yes," her mother nodded, "He's dead."

"Oh, I see."

"Is something troubling you, dear?"

"No, no, I'm okay really. I'm just a little tired…and maybe a bit confused."

"Well, if you like, I could let you stay home from school tomorrow."

"Actually, Minoru and I were going to help out in the computer room tomorrow…so…"

"Don't worry about it then. I'm not trying to force you to stay home. I just thought you needed some time off from school, since all this has happened."

"Hmm…Could I stay home on Tuesday instead?"

"Alright…You rest up." Her mother placed a kiss on her forehead and exited the room.

The sky soon turned dark and Shina was all tired out. She lied there in bed, thinking about Lil Slugger. "…I kissed him…I actually kissed him…" Shina blushed at the thought. She never thought she'd have this kind of feeling for him. But it was a bit strange. She loved him, and yet she feared him. It was all mixed emotions, but she really enjoyed having him as company. Her eyes started to droop as she stared into Maromi's big black eyes. She heard her door creak open, and heard the sound of rollerblades gliding against a carpeted floor. Shina didn't care about the noises; she was much too tired at the moment. She heard the clank of a metal object hitting a wall. And then it sounded like someone was taking off a pair of shoes…or skates; since she heard wheels turning and clips clanking. Then the room fell silent. But suddenly, she felt something weigh her bed down. It felt like someone was climbing into bed with her. At first she thought it was Keitaro playing a joke on her, but realized who it really was when she heard his voice. "Are you awake?" the boy whispered. She felt his body heat, and she shifted her position so she could sit up. She bumped her head into something…it was a cap.

"Aie…Hmm…Lil Slugger? What do you want now?" Shina said in a sleepy tone.

"There's something I have to tell you" he responded.

"Can you tell me tomorrow? I'm really tired…And please get off of me; what if my mom walks in?…" she turned on her side.

"I love you" he whispered, kissing her cheek.

Shina faced him and smiled; she reached up and hugged him. "I love you too" she answered. She lied back down, not realizing that she had pulled Lil Slugger down as well. Shina's arms dropped to her sides as she lay there half asleep. Lil Slugger made a "Hm?" sound, as if he wondered what was wrong with her behavior. His frizzy hair brushed against Shina's neck as he lay on top of her. They both lied there…motionless. "You're hurting me…" Shina mumbled weakly. Lil Slugger moved and lied next to her. His hand slid across her stomach and he whispered in her ear, "You want me to stay?" Shina could hardly respond; she heard what he was saying, but was too tired to answer. She turned over to face him and she wrapped her arms around him. "Please…don't leave me…" she shoved her face into his chest and cried silently. She didn't want to lose anyone else who was close to her. She had to hold on to the things she cared for. Lil Slugger placed an arm around her to comfort her, and gently licked her neck. "Maybe…today wasn't such a bad day…after all" Shina thought.

She had fallen asleep with Lil Slugger by her side…

End of Strike 3

Yeee-haw! How touching! I nearly made myself cry while typing this. I could just picture it so perfectly in my little head. Awww. sniff sniff But the licking-her-neck part was suppose to express Little Slugger's…erm…weirdness……?

Btw, thank you all who have written me good reviews! I appreciate it very much! throws confetti on everyone I love my audience; I have to buy you guys some candy.