IZUMI
I seriously think that God found his newest toy when Nishiura Baseball Team was created. Want proof? Well then sit back and enjoy the ride.
POINT # 1:The Coach
I mean have you seen our coach? She looks like a fragile little miss but after that incident with Hanai on the first day we were on the field, no one and I mean no one in the team will ever make the mistake of assuming Momokan was ever normal. And then there was that incident when we were drawing lots for the spring tournament. I think I lost a couple of years off my life when those huge hands grabbed my head...ugh!! The woman can read minds I tell you. I swear I think I just had trauma after that and every time people touches my head in some fashion my heartbeat triples and I have the cold shivers all over again.
POINT # 2: The Players
I wondered not for the first time if there was a sense of justice at play when God ensured that Tajima would receive more than his fair share of talent but without a requisite amount of tact or sense of propriety. As the days pass by, I'm beginning to think that God not only has a sense of justice—he also has one weird sense of the ironic. Why do I say this?
Granted the smallest guy on team just happened to be the most talented—it only goes to show that no one can be that perfect and still be human. That should've been reassuring for me and all the other guys. Tajima might have frightening skills as a ballplayer—what with his timing and uncanny ability to see the pattern in even the most random of plays—it would be next to impossible to deny the talent of our tiny ace. And believe me—he knows that he is the ace—it just didn't matter to him at all. That he also had an indefatigable optimism and shared his love for the sport freely—only made him all the more engaging. He could be randomly brilliant—like that time with Tosei—or remarkably callous—I mean seriously, using Mihashi's face during soccer? I ask you, if that wasn't being just plain mean—anyway…
If only he could be taught some semblance of modesty he would be truly awesome. But the sad reality is that Tajima had the decorum of a tomcat in heat. It was proof-positive of Shinookas pre-occupation with her managerial chores and the prompt action of the rest of the team that neither she nor Momokan heard the dreaded "M"-word uttered anywhere near their vicinity. It was all we could so not to toss him out of the bus that day when he opened his mouth and uttered those accursed words aloud for the entire world to hear. I tell you, I had nightmares for a few nights—I dreamt that Momokan DID hear and we ended up being run over by the bus several times and Tajima was there still screaming that word as the bus flattened him. Believe me—it was NOT a pleasant way to die.
And then there's Mihashi. I tell you, that boy needs a nursemaid or someone with a tranquilizer gun handy because I just might be tempted to drug him before each game. He is so jittery—and at first that's all I saw in him. But Tajima and Abe made me see the real Mihashi bit by bit. He is always spazzing out—that's an understatement if ever there was one—but he tried like hell every time he goes to the field. He might be a bit sensitive—but then again, who wouldn't be if you spent three years being hated by everyone you played with. It might give ME or any other normal person a serious case of paranoia. Who's to say it wasn't the thing that made him so jittery after all. And the fact that Abe had to constantly screams at him and threatens him with that voice is something. It's a good thing Tajima could even understand that gibberish that Mihashi spouts off whenever he gets nervous.
Abe is brilliant at plays—any one with half a brain could see that he is good at leading and his catching technique is darn near perfect—but the man is so BOSSY! I mean, he keeps a stern eye on everything about Mihashi it's enough to make you wonder exactly what he thinks of their pitcher. Me, I'd rather not know. No seriously—if it comes to THAT—I would rather being the dark…why? Because I would rather be ignorant and be blissful about it than to figure out exactly how they think about each other…I'm not blind—I know there's something. I'd just rather NOT know. Why? Because if I had that nightmare with Tajima and his asinine lack of tact—I just might die if I ever figure out exactly how many way Abe bosses Mihashi. Understood? I would rather not volunteer to be God's toy if and when he decides to inform us the truth about that particular mystery.