"The unforgiving cat"
I knew Riki had his reasons. But the fact that he had gone without telling me is what hurt me the most. I was his girlfriend. If he wanted to go into town with another girl he could at least tell me who and why beforehand. At least then I wouldn't have been too angry with him.
I clenched the box in my hand and threw it against the wall in my room as hard as I could. To my surprise, it opened when it hit the ground. Curious, I walked over to it and picked up what was inside. It broke my heart when I noticed what it was exactly. A cat necklace. And on top of that…It was the one I had seen in a store before and told Riki I wanted around a month after the accident.
Riki had remembered and gotten it for me when he was with Futaki. That meant he wasn't out on a date with her, but just with her. Embarrassed I took the necklace and put it around my neck. I fumbled with the small cat and wondered why I had assumed that Riki would have cheated on me. Then I realized it. Kyousuke had kept us apart and I simply missed him. Then I found out he had been with another girl. I was jealous that someone got to spend time with him when I wasn't allowed to.
I searched around the room for my phone, and still couldn't find it. I gave up after a few minutes and sat on my bed. Then I remembered that when Komari had gotten sick, we had gotten permission for Masato to come and move our beds a little bit…under supervision of course. There wasn't any way I was letting that gross idiot in my room without someone like Futaki watching him. When he moved our beds maybe my phone slipped in between them.
I reached my hand in between the bed and the wall. I felt my phone somewhere close to the bottom, but not quite onto the floor. I managed to pull it up and out. I checked the messages on it and saw one from Kyousuke.
Riki got injured in practice. Check on him.
I sent back a single text saying he came to me and that he said he was fine. I sighed and decided to go back to Riki and Komari to see if I could apologize to him. When I opened my door, I was surprised to see Komari standing there about to come in.
"Rin? I need to tell you something."
"What is it Komari?" I asked.
"Riki explained why he was in town with Futaki. He was with her to help her pick out a gift for Haruka," Komari explained.
"Oh…Okay…He got me a necklace while he was out. I need to apologize for my attitude…Is he still in the library?"
"About that…" She rubbed the back of her head nervously, "No…He's in the nurse's office. He passed out after I left, and I came here to tell you."
My phone vibrated. I opened it to see a message from Kyousuke.
Confront Soujiro Akina. He's up to something.
I replied asking him how he knew that. And then I left to go check on Riki. But somewhere along the way, I overheard someone talking about Soujiro. I stopped and listened in to the conversation.
It consisted of someone talking about Soujiro joining a baseball team. Then someone mentioned him having injured the captain of the team. Then it was said that he never apologized for it. And that got under my skin. This Soujiro guy had injured Riki, and then never apologized for it. The more I heard about this guy, the more I hated him. And the more I felt it was deliberate.
My phone vibrated again. And I checked the message.
Because I was the one who was always up to something before.
He had a point. So I decided to confront this Soujiro guy. I ran towards the baseball field. Instead of just barging in on the field and interrupting the practice, I went to the locker room. I quickly changed into my gym clothes. I took a deep breath and wondered what I was going to do. I texted Kyousuke asking him to have Soujiro prepare for a test.
Then I hurried to the field. When I reached it, I noticed Soujiro on the pitching plate practicing his throws.
"Soujiro. There's going to be a little test. You see…Riki's girlfriend is here. She's our pitcher. She wants to test you by having a pitching contest," Kyousuke announced, "Whoever throws more strikes wins."
"Huh? Alright. I'm up for this."
I walked up to the pitcher's plate and glared at Soujiro. I looked him in the eye, and something bothered me. Dull. His eyes were dull. It was like he was lifeless on the inside. Cold hearted maybe. That confirmed my suspicions. He had intended to hit Riki.
"My stipulation…We pitch to each other. Understand?" His words bothered me. What was with this guy? Was he trying to injure me too? Or was he underestimating me because I was a girl?
I gave a nod. I didn't mind batting against this guy. I was going to beat him. For Riki. We took our places, I was pitching first. I stepped up to the plate and closed my eyes. I prepared for my pitch.
I released the ball after winding up my pitch. I flicked it with the tip of my finger to change the direction. I did a twirl in mid air, and barely went over the top of the bat. Strike one.
We changed positions. I was at bat. I gripped it tightly and prepared to swing. He threw his pitch. I swung, and I tipped it but it still went behind me. Strike for him. We switched again.
This kept up for about twenty minutes. It was my turn to pitch. I wound up my pitch. And then, I threw my famous super fastball pitch. But I was shocked when he managed to it perfectly. It was my turn to hit. If I failed to hit it, I would lose. And then I couldn't face Riki.
I saw the ball be released from his hand. I noticed it was coming straight for my face, so I side-stepped. But then it curved. And went straight into the strike zone. I lost. I had lost my own challenge.
"Game. Set. Match," Soujiro removed his glove.
"Wrong," Kyousuke narrowed his eyes, "That pitch was illegal and cheap. Rin will get another chance. If she misses again, you'll win. It isn't right to trick her into thinking she's going to be hit."
I stepped back up to the home plate. I swung my bat once to practice. This time I was going to hit it. He threw again. But something was off. It was coming at my head again. I stepped to the side again, and swung. I hit it. I didn't hit it far…but it was enough for it to count.
Now it was my turn for revenge. My pitch. This was going to end the game. I wound up my pitch. And then I threw it. As hard as I could. It was faster than my super fastball. When it connected with the bat, the bat shattered and it was a strike.
It was my turn to bat. Last attempt. He threw the ball. I swung. Time seemed to slow down. I hit the ball. It was a homerun. I had won.
"Winner! Rin!" Kyousuke announced.
"Hooray!" Everyone cheered except for Soujiro. He seemed down that he had lost.
"I'm warning you now," I walked up to Soujiro and stood beside him, and then I glared at him, "Hurt Riki again, and I will make sure you never play any sport again. Understood?"
"Fine…That was an accident. I'm going to go apologize to him after practice," Soujiro sighed, "You're good."
"Stay away from him," I warned, "If I catch you around him outside of practice…You'll regret it. And you're not too bad yourself."
And with that I went back to the locker room and changed back into the school uniform. I leaned against the wall and realized my legs were shaking. Something still bothered me. Why did Soujiro bother me so much? Why did I suddenly feel scared?
I looked at my phone and noticed a message from Kyousuke.
Good work. Soujiro Akina is furious. How is Riki?
I replied by telling him Riki is unconscious in the Nurse's Office and that I was going to visit him now. I decided against telling him about our fight, since I was overreacting and regretted it. When I arrived in the Nurse's Office, I went over to Riki. Riki was still unconscious. I grabbed his hand and laid my head beside him.
"I did it Riki…I beat that Akina guy for you. He won't ever hurt you again," I whispered.
"Rin…?" Riki's voice was low and weak sounding, "I'm sorry…For earlier."
"It's fine Riki. Just rest. I overreacted," I couldn't help but to smile and look up at him.
"Huh? You're wearing the necklace I got you…"
"Yeah…I love it. Thank you. I should have listened to you," I felt the tears in my eyes, "I should have trusted you more."
"Rin…" He patted my head, "Always remember you're the girl I want to spend time with forever. I'm going to be stuck in here for a while. You should go take care of Komari."
"I will…If you need anything call me. I don't care what time it is…I'll come right away," I promised.
"Riki!" Kyousuke came into the room now, followed by everyone else except Soujiro, "Glad to see you're okay. I've come up with an idea for our next task. We'll be going back to the beach, but this time we'll have a series of contests."
"Sounds fun," I said, "But what about Riki?"
"He'll be our judge. He is our leader after all. Consider this a team-building exercise. Riki, do you approve?" Kyousuke asked.
"Yeah. I don't mind. With my Narcolepsy back…I don't want to end up ruining anything for anyone," Riki gave a forced smile.
"No one would hate you," Nishizono spoke up, "It's not something you can control."
"She's right Riki," Kengo nodded.
"Thanks guys…But for now I'll just be on the sidelines," Riki shook his head, "I'm tired. So let's plan some more tomorrow."
"Have a good rest," Kyousuke put a hand on my head, "Come on Rin. Let's leave him for now."
I gave a nod and looked over Riki. In his current condition, I was worried about his mental health. I knew that he once considered himself a hindrance to us…But he had gotten over it once Kyousuke made him leader. But now he was back to thinking he was a hindrance. I decided I would keep a close eye on him until he was back to his normal self.
But that wasn't the only thing…I was going to keep an eye on Soujiro. He was still bothering me. I never imagined myself as someone who was going to put myself out around others. Kyousuke had definitely helped me build courage. But Riki had made sure I matured. Now he was being threatened by someone. I was going to protect him. Even if it meant I was out of my comfort zone. But one thing was for sure…I didn't like the guy. And I most certainly was never going to forgive him for injuring Riki to the point of him being forced to stay in the Nurse's Office until further notice.