At four, Ruri thinks she doesn't like Shuu-chan. Otou-san spends too much time with him.

Ruri really likes it when Otou-san teaches her anything to do with baseball. Otou-san says he played the sport growing up, so Ruri wants to follow his example. Besides, baseball games on TV always looks exciting, so cool, and whatever Otou-san teaches is fun!

Today, Otou-san is teaching her how to pitch. He says it is something like playing catch, just a little different. What peeves her is the presence of the boy next to her. Shuu-chan's parents have to go somewhere, that's why Shuu-chan is here in their lawn, learning how to pitch with her.

Ruri pouts. Baseball is something special that Shuu-chan doesn't know anything about, and she doesn't want to let him. Ruri doesn't want to share Otou-san and baseball with Shuu-chan.

Otou-san shows them the way to stand, to grip the ball and to pitch, but he throws the ball lightly instead of the way Ruri sees on TV. He tells them they should not throw that hard; the way they throw is more important, if not they can't be used in the game.

"Besides, those people you see on TV are older and bigger, that's why they throw harder," Otou-san says with a grin.

"If you throw too hard now, your hand can be hurt really badly, and when you grow up, you can't really play baseball," he tells them seriously and sternly later. "I don't want the two of you to throw too hard, too much, or too long, okay?"

With an order like that, Ruri and Shuu-chan can only nod obediently.

It takes a few tries, but Ruri learns them fast, and is proud when Otou-san praises her. Shuu-chan, however, struggles. First, he could not balance properly, and falls too many times. Then, when he got the standing part right, he could not grip the baseball properly. Now, Ruri has to watch as Otou-san corrects his stance over and over again. Something always seems to be wrong.

Ruri puffs up her cheeks, until Otou-san asks her to show Shuu-chan how to do it. Obediently, Ruri scrambles over, and steps on a long rectangular cloth that Otou-san had placed on the grass. She stands on one leg, and sees Shuu-chan imitating her. Ruri then throws the ball towards the net Otou-san had set up, and couldn't help the triumphant smirk when she sees another ball bouncing off the net after hers.

"That's very good, Shuu-chan," Otou-san tells him. "The balance is a bit off, but Ruri did a good job in showing you, didn't she?"

Ruri beams with pride.

Sometime later, Otou-san tells them they have to create their own signs. By now, Ruri and Shuu-chan have learned to aim and to throw a fastball and curveball. It's been fun, fun, and more fun.

Ruri doesn't hate Shuu-chan anymore, since Otou-san praised her for being such a good teacher to Shuu-chan. She looks at Shuu-chan and catches his eye.

"Think of the signs for fastball and curveball, and whether you want the other person to throw higher, or lower, or to the left or right. Show it to me later, okay?"

Otou-san makes them promise, and heads back into the house. He seems to have something to do as well. This leaves Ruri with Shuu-chan for company.

"Wanna take turns?" Shuu-chan suggests timidly.

"Okay!" Ruri agrees enthusiastically. "You first!"

By the time Otou-san comes back, Ruri and Shuu-chan has a tone of signs they have created not only for baseball, but words they can say to each other in class, their own secret language that no one else knows.

Being friends with Shuu-chan is really interesting. Ruri knows she likes him enough to have loads of fun.


A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've been rewriting this and the next chapter again and again because it just doesn't feel right. Both of them are actually meant for age five, and I couldn't choose which one I should publish, since it'd have been a pity to discard either one, so I decided to just add an "age four". I took quite a bit of time to refine them though, but it came out rather good.

Enjoy the chapters. And reviews will be sweet!