Author's Note

I'm going to be able to continue quick chapter updates en masse until Chapter 10—11 being the last pre-written, and my first effort in earnest to bring the chapter length up to snuff to the other fictions posted here, notably by simply combining chapters together. Then again, there is always the tiniest self-esteem boost when you read like 10 chapters in maybe 30 minutes (just a rough guess.)

Also, I was wondering, to anyone who is Japanese or knows someone who is, if you think of someone's name, would it be accompanied by honourific?

Also, I decided I'd start timestamping all the chapters, to make it easier for someone who stops reading for a bit to pick up where they left off. The format is of course, mmddyy.

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Chapter 5

The First Match

I don't remember any other day where I was so glad to walk home, or in this case, into the dormitory. Weekends were normally a happy occasion, but tomorrow was made only sweeter from the mid-terms finishing.

However, tomorrow would not be so relaxing, for Iwano had called the team to practise on Sunday (the first match was Monday.) Today's practise ended fairly routinely, and I felt that the team had a chance.

*

I stepped up to plate. It was the seventh inning, and there was one out. A teammate was on second, praying I would smack a beautiful hit. I readied my bat, and took a deep breath.

The pitcher winded up, and gave a pitch that I could see he put all his effort into. They were two runs behind, and I had already proven I could make brilliant hits. They had to strike me out, or else I'd even up the score, and then some.

The ball flew at me. It was a fastball, but it was straight into my batting zone, right in the path of my natural swing path that gave me maximum power. I grinned, and let loose. The ball flew, sailing and soaring, defying gravity as it sailed over the shortstop by a long distance, and flying, flying. It didn't leave the diamond, but it was close enough. The outfielders scrambled. Bit late of them. My teammate crossed home with no problem at all. I crossed home with time to spare. The other team seemed dejected, though, but compensated by striking out our next two batters with relative ease. The seventh inning passed without much note.

I ran to my usual position fielding, left field. I watched as our pitcher (who actually was fairly decent) tossed a decent curveball. The other batter hit it, sending it flying, sailing right to me. I smiled.

I ran to the mound. It was the ninth inning, with one out. We were behind by two runs. A teammate was on second, and another on first. I made a few hand signals to ask "Mind if I try sending this one as far as I can?" They seemed to not mind at all.

The pitcher seemed to be nervous. He knew he had to pitch well to stop me from batting; I was essentially the best batter on the team. He wound up, and threw what looked like a fastball. Except it wasn't a fastball. It was a pretty slow fastball. Slow enough that I could hit it almost in my sleep. I smiled as I heard the crack of the ball against my bat. It went flying. And flying. It sailed cleanly over the head of center base. My teammates started running. However, the ball was dropping a lot faster than I would've liked. I ran to first base, but stopped, deeming it to be safer.

My caution was pointless, as the outfielder ended up catching it, and tossing it to third. Two outs. My fault. We lost the game.

*

The next day at school, I think I was mobbed, or some similar term, for being the person who almost won the team a game. Nobody seemed to mind that we didn't actually win—I guess they just got used to the baseball team sucking.

Toshiro and a few other guys congratulated me. Various girls were gaggled around me. Apparently, I was the only good athlete in the school or something. Tadashi even swung by to congratulate me.

"Congratulations, Hajime-san, you're the best person on the team for the last seven years, or so I hear."

I shrugged. Was that really an accomplishment? While I wondered, Tadashi walked away in the direction of the Student Council room. Guess he's actually busy after school.

"Great work yesterday!" A cheery voice, probably feminine said that behind me. I spun around. It was the girl from the library a week or so ago. "I guess you earned your spot from Makoto-kun."

I didn't respond. I had no idea if Makoto was good or not, though, by what people seemed to say about him, I was probably better than Makoto. I didn't say that of course; I could sense something going on between her and Makoto. No, if I were to make a move, I'd have to make a subtle one.

"I never caught your name.", I said.

Perhaps too subtle.

"Chishu Shinako. We're in the same year, right? You can call me Shinako-chan if you want." She smiled. Skipping to nicknames immediately. I guess she's a baseball fan, or perhaps attracted to athletes.

She walked off, before I could say anything more. Goddamnit, that's a bad habit of hers.

*

Everyone was huddled around a stretch of wall near the faculty office. There was a very tense air. Some kids rejoiced, and others looked like their cat just got run over by an 18-wheeler whose driver flipped them the bird. There was a large thicket, and I was at an outer edge. I was just going to have to wait.

Of course, this could mean no other thing than the exam results being posted.

Beside me, Toshiro was waiting, already looking very glum, even though he didn't see his scores yet. I guess he just knows he's that bad. Tadashi was ahead in the thicket, waiting excitedly. I guess he does well. Shinako was waiting quietly, not sure what to think. I guess she was in the same boat as me.

The crowd gradually dispersed, and I got a look at my results. I scanned for my name. I smiled. I did a little bit better than average—though the keyword is "a little bit." Toshiro did poorly, though nowhere near as poor as people make him out to be. Tadashi did very well, and out of curiosity, Shinako did a bit better than me.

In short, nothing people'd mock me for this time around.

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A new character! And a silly note at the end.

Not to beg, but please read and & review (though I assume you just did the former.)