Why does everybody hate Kurt-kun so much? I know he's just a stupid guy... but does his character really suck that bad? Come on! You people are mean. -whimper- I do not own Slayers, Major League Baseball, Fan Fest, Pittsburgh, my reviewers and other random things since this is just a bloody fanfiction. Oh... this is my birthday present to all my reviewers! The yayness of being seventeen! -grins- Now if only I didn't have standardized testing today at school, everything would be perfect.

Juu-yon

All Star Break From Hell! That Damn Blond Again!

Lina stared at the crowd and frowned, disliking the vast multitude of people that were present. It was July 10th and she was at the All Star Fan Fest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The next day, she would be playing in the 2006 All Star Game for the American League. Baseball fanatics from all over the country, as well as Canada and even the rest of the world, submitted their votes to determine who would be elected to play and Lina had just barely obtained enough votes to play back-up shortstop on the American team. Granted she was not yet one of the more popular athletes, yet she got in all the same.

"Isn't this great Lina?" Kurt asked excitedly. Lina simply sighed and gave her wig a slight one-handed adjustment. Her boisterous teammate had volunteered to accompany Lina to Pittsburgh in order for her to stay slightly more "low key" and make rational decisions. The only problem with that was that the man was one of the furthest things from "low key" someone could possibly get without being arrested, creating a scene similar to a 6' 2" boy seeing a candy store for the first time.

"Come on you damn geek," Lina snapped as she dragged Kurt away from a kiosk with a large assortment of vintage baseball cards that was making him drool. There were many different kinds of stands throughout the convention center the Fan Fest was being held in; the flavors of the many different teams forcing the event to flourish with life. "It is embarrassing taking you anywhere, did you know that?"

"Me-ow. Look who's feeling a bit catty today," Kurt replied as he mockingly clawed the air. Lina shot him an acidic glare, forcing him to recoil.

"Shut up."

"What's up with you? If anything, you should be... what's the word I'm looking for here... elated... about the fact that you are even here in the first place. I didn't even get my name on the voting ballot."

"You could have been a write-in," Lina said casually as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, well, that didn't happen now, did it?" Kurt groaned as he adjusted his brown Indiana Jones-style hat to conceal his face a bit better. Ever since spending Independence Day at Amelia's family home in Nowhere, he felt a bit paranoid about accidently being recognized. Lina kept on telling him that Dalton, Martin or Tammy could care less about him being there, yet the man was still skittish about the whole ordeal.

"Why don't you try a different get-up," Lina laughed as she looked up at Kurt and his hat obsessing habit. She had thought of it as odd for herself to wander around wearing long blue jeans on the sweltering day, yet she nearly burst into tears laughing when she had first seen the tanned leather hat sitting on her friend's head. "You know, a leather coat, a bullwhip and an annoying Asian kid named Shorty at your side and you'll be all set!"

"Ha, ha, very funny Lina. Just for that, I should be teasing you about wandering around in women's clothes for once."

"Don't you even start," Lina threatened. Her fist clenched and Kurt took a healthy step away from the fuming woman.

"Please don't hurt me."

"Then shut up."

Afterwards, there was an awkward silence as they silently walked through the convention center. Memorabilia from all of the different baseball teams littered the background. The local ice hockey team the Penguins and the recent Super Bowl champion Steelers even had their own different small homages across the area. There were kiosks dedicated to the All Star Game sponsors nearly everywhere one dared to look. Batting cages and pitching challenges were set up for small children to have fun and try their luck with, as well as for the older patrons to attempt to do well. A video game booth was set up with all different kinds of baseball-themed games that a horde of teenage boys were crowding around. Random people everywhere were eating food and Lina and Kurt even had to side-step an upset container of cheese nachos when they passed the "food court", which was basically just a small cluster of vendor stands set up in a corner of the convention center.

"Umm... Lina...?" Kurt asked after a short while of observing their surroundings in silence.

"Yeah?"

"You remember that game where you froze up and couldn't bat right?"

"I thought we put that behind us. I didn't play the rest of the series and that was it. Why do you ask?" Lina replied sourly.

"Just... erm... don't look to the left, alright?" Kurt said nervously, trying to be helpful the best he could. On a subconscious impulse, Lina disobeyed, snapping her gaze to the left only to halt dead in her tracks.

There, playing wiffle-ball with some pre-school aged children, was none other than Gourry Gabriev.

Damn it... I can't move again! Lina swore as she felt her face become hot with blushing blood. She knew that she was staring, but there was nothing she could do about it. The feeling she had was just like when she had choked up at the bat, except this time, there was no pressure for her to do anything while in her inert state. Something deep inside her melted when she saw one of the small children accidently smash one of the white plastic balls into Gourry's face. Gourry just smiled and patted the child on the head to assure him that he was fine, though the large red spot on his forehead clearly said that he wasn't. Time seemed to go in slow motion as she stood there, staring at him, until...

"Lina!" Kurt whined, shaking her shoulder and attempting to bring her back.

"What...?" she replied, her voice far-off and vacant.

"You look like a fangirl."

SNAP

"FANGIRL! Me! How dare you!" Lina yelled, returning to her violent self and punching Kurt in the arm. "I am the one they call 'Bloody Mary' for heaven's sake! Why in the Nine hells would I be a fangirl!"

"Only if you cannot help it," Kurt smiled, gingerly rubbing his arm. "Good thing that no one saw you besides me."

"I guess," Lina agreed rather sheepishly. "What's a really good thing is that Amelia's not here. She'd be teasing me."

"Miss Amelia wouldn't do that," Kurt disagreed with a shake of his head. "She would simply physically drag you away."

"Yeah, I should have checked the roster though for the National League team. I bet that Gabriev is on the team," Lina scoffed as she and Kurt began to walk away. "Anyways, did you see him playing with those midgets? I would never have had the patience for that in a million years."

"I highly doubt that four and five-year-olds qualify as being considered 'midgets', Lina. They aren't even fully grown yet..."

"Well, they're shorter than me at this very moment and that's all I really need to know," Lina started. She was about to continue when a voice from deep within her memory cut through the air and made her jerk to a stop.

"Hey Lina! Lina Inverse!"

"Aw, hell no…" Lina moaned as she turned around. A woman with vividly red hair about her age ran up and energetically shook her hand.

"Remember me Lina?" she asked excitedly.

"How could I ever forget you?"

"Hey Lina, who is this?" the woman and Kurt seemed to ask in sync as they pointed at each other.

"Kurt, this is Maliska Macrony. She went to a high school that was close to mine and she also happened to play on the baseball team for her school. Maliska, this is my friend Kurt…"

"You mean Kurt Fuchs, the rookie centerfielder for the Portland Slayers?" Maliska squealed. Blood rushed to Kurt's face as the enthusiasm the stranger showed increased at the mere mention of his name. "I follow the Portland Slayers closely, since it is my 'hometown team' in a way. Oh, Lina, I even saw that your cousin Liam had made the team in the open try-outs."

"My cous...in…?"

"Yeah, Liam Inverse is your cousin, isn't he? The two of you look so much alike that you could be twins and I don't think you have a brother," Maliska noted, a slight bit of confusion in her voice.

"He sure is her cousin," Kurt blurted before Lina could react. "The two could be siblings, but they're not! Sometimes I even call them by the wrong name because they are so similar!"

"You know Liam Inverse?" Maliska asked, her eyes growing wide in admiration.

"Of course! We are teammates after all," Kurt laughed heartily. Lina elbowed him in the side, forcing him to be quiet.

"So what have you been up to all this time Maliska?" Lina inquired in order to change the subject. She shot Kurt an acidic glare that told him loud and clear: Stop trying to make things better! They are only getting worse!

"School to be a nurse; accelerated courses," she replied frankly. "I can guess what you and your boyfriend are doing here… am I right…?" Lina's face went bright red as Maliska gave her a sly wink.

"Boyfriend!"

"Miss Maliska, you can't possibly mean me, can you?" Kurt asked as Lina stood there with her mouth agape, clearly disgusted with the idea of her being with Kurt.

"Oh! You two are just friends, aren't you?" Maliska gasped in embarrassment. "I am so sorry! I just assumed…"

"Don't worry about it," Kurt said with a forgiving smile. "This happens all the time."

"No it doesn't," Lina interjected.

"Anyways, I think it is great that you traveled this far to help support your cousin, Lina!" Maliska added. "Liam must be very lucky to have you as his cousin. I bet there are not many people like you out there."

"I guess so," Lina muttered guiltily. Luckily, Maliska was too thrown into the moment to notice the tone change in Lina's voice.

"Hey, do you think you can introduce me to your cousin, Lina?" Maliska requested. Lina stood there in silence, not sure about how to answer her.

"Maybe some other time," Kurt said once he realized that his friend was tongue-tied. "He had to go to a players' meeting and will be gone for a long time. We might not be able to see him again until after the game tomorrow, and that is even a big chance to take."

"Oh, alright! I guess it is nothing that any of us can control," Maliska said, slightly disappointed, yet understanding at the same time. "I guess I will talk to you some other time then."

"Right! See you later!" Lina said hurriedly as she dragged away Kurt. She did not let go of his wrist until they were safely hidden behind a very tall collector's card kiosk.

"What was with you back there?" Kurt asked angrily. "You just stood there like an idiot. Is that how you are going to act every time a familiar face pops out of the crowd?"

"No, but she is one of the ones that are sharp enough to piece everything together. I was really nervous that Maliska would figure it out," Lina whispered, wary of the card vendor on the other side of the display area. "Nothing against her, but I don't know her well enough to trust her with my secret. It is so big, I even feel guilty having you and Amelia know."

"Okay. What I don't get though is how you can live like you are Lina. Don't you ever get the urge to scream out everything to the world and tell them who you really are?"

"Kurt my good friend... you have absolutely no idea."

"You're right. I don't have any idea," Kurt agreed. He began to casually walk away from Lina in the direction of the large display of Minor League team sweaters for sale. "What do I know? I'm just myself and all..."

"Now you are just saying that to get on my nerves," Lina said as she began to follow her teammate.

"How can you tell?"

"I do the same thing with Wanker to piss him off."

"The Mazoku Bastard?"

"Yup," Lina laughed as they entered the Minor League display. Once there, they wandered about for a bit and then moved on to another display. It was like "Cooperstown yet fairer" according to Lina as they wandered around the convention center and when they were finally forced to leave at ten o'clock that night, Lina was a bit more confident about the game ahead of her and what it would bring.

Things To Know

All Star Fan Fest: Taken from personal experience in 2005 when the All-Star Game and the events connected to it came to Detroit. I wish that everyone could have gone. I went to Fan Fest and made various complaints about how they had no Tigers hats. When they showed me stuff for the Detroit Tigers, I decided to be difficult and request Hanshin Tigers hats. They didn't have any and I think the vendors were angry with me with my spiffy Inuyasha hat.

Maliska: I do not own the Maliska. She is one of the members of Gerao-A, the only member I had yet to mention in this fanfiction until now.

"Cooperstown Yet Fairer": That is my own opinion. Do not trust the opinion of the Nehszriah, for my views can be different from your own... and most likely are. You see, I went to Cooperstown (National Baseball Hall of Fame) one year during Summer Break and found that it was like a New York Yankees shrine. Well, more like a Yankees vs Red Sox shrine, which became very irritating at times. I think I was lucky to have found my "Briggs Stadium" shirt there at the gift shop. I hate the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry to death.