Author's Notes
Nothing to really note this chapter.
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Chapter 2
Baseball
"Yeah, there's a co-ed dorm north of the school.", Toshiro was saying while we were doing the daily trek to school. "Man, the guys there are such lucky bastards. Some seriously hot chicks live there."
I shrugged lightly. "That's probably just a rumour."
"Oh come on, don't be that way! You know you'd love to be there! I sure as hell would be!"
I shrugged lightly again.
"Wait a second, don't tell me you're…" Toshiro had a worried look on his face, and took a step away from me. "…gay!"
I turned to him and gave a glare. Where'd he pull that one from?
"Just joking, man. Midterms are coming up, you ready? I heard Takumura-sensei"—this was Mr. Composition—"is an ass around exam time. Math can't be that bad though, right? Or science?"
I shrugged lightly for the third time. "Dunno."
"Oh come on, you have to have an opinion!"
For the fourth time, I shrugged. Toshiro gave an exasperated sigh. "Guess you're ready for anything, huh? Can I borrow your notes?"
Normally, I'd say no, not because I didn't want to help him, but because I was one of the stupider kids where I came from. However, judging by what everyone says about Toshiro, there's a good possibility he's dumber than me.
"Whatever, but it's better to ask someone else."
Toshiro sighed. "Nobody else'll lend me 'em, not after eighth grade."
I raised an eyebrow.
"You don't wanna know."
*
Despite the fact there were about two and a half weeks before mid-terms, you could definitely feel the panic in the air. People were scrambling around trying to share and compare notes, the library was always packed, people actually stayed up in class, and oddly enough, judging by what the school vendor said, crab bread sales had spiked by 60% (though I think that's unrelated.)
I was leaving class after what could possibly have been one of the most boring lectures ever (stiff competition at this school), when I noticed a sort of poster. It read "Sport Teams now recruiting! Be at the gymnasium, yadda yadda…" This was kind of weird, if they were looking for new blood in the new school year, they were possibly a month late, but still, I wasn't about to complain, since I had nothing to do after school.
I strolled down to the gymnasium, to discover several what seemed like sign-up sheets crammed together by the gymnasium door, most of them saying "[Insert team here] now recruiting! Meet at [meeting place]!". I had a choice between baseball, Kendo, and track (I think most of the other sign-ups were taken down a month ago.) I stared for a while, before settling on baseball.
The chicks dig baseball, right?
*
After a minute or so of walking, I arrived at the baseball diamond, and asked the first kid I saw about joining. As it turns out, he was the manager of the team (or at least something close to it.) While walking to the diamond, a kid asked me where I was going, to which I replied. Apparently, the baseball team sucks. A lot.
"You're about a month late, kid.", the team manager said.
I sighed. Turns out I was just inattentive.
"Though, I don't think anybody'd mind a new waterboy.", the manager said.
Not for the first time, I sighed. "You're joking, right?"
"Yes, just kidding! Actually, there might be a spot for you; Makoto-san's been wanting to leave for a while." A black haired boy, probably same year as me waved. He was holding a bat. "God, I don't want to have to give up one of our best hitters, though."
I raised an eyebrow. From what I've heard, the North Hirokawa baseball team sucked. I was sceptical that the guy could even hit the ball at all.
"How about letting me take a few swings to see if I'm let in or not?", I asked.
The manager seemed to be trying to suppress a laugh. "Sure, you can go ahead, but there's no way you're going to hit better than Makoto-san."
*
Twenty-one minutes later, I smacked a beautiful hit and walked casually to first base, as the ball soared easily out of the diamond, and out of school property.
Makoto was cheery as he received the news he was being replaced by me. Normally, I'd feel bad, but the guy was beaming. That wasn't a good sign at all. The manager seemed to be ecstatic as well, having found someone who could actually hit.
*
Tadashi was sitting in the lounge, casually flipping through channels on television when the door opened. I stepped in, and waved. He waved back.
"Welcome back.", he said. "You integrating nicely into the school?"
I smiled. "Decently. I just joined the baseball team."
He raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was full. Did Makoto finally leave?" I nodded in response. "Well, you better be a hell of a lot better than him. It's almost embarrassing—hell it is embarrassing—chatting with friends in different schools about sports."
I chuckled. "Well, I heard the Kendo team doesn't do so hot either."
Tadashi shot me an annoyed look. "Very funny, Hajime-san."
I shrugged and walked to my room.