Target 17: Of Baseballs and Boys Part 2
Through some odd circumstances and the lack of team, Emiko managed to get her 'team' back onto the outfield. They had three outs already, and as such, traded places with the other team. The Cosmo Comets were better and far dirtier players than Emiko had thought.
"Alright," She looked at the few players, counting them. "Wait… one, two—where's Hitomi?!" Hitomi was trying to escape through the door, but was easily caught by Emiko. "Hitomi, where are you going? You owe me! Now c'mon! We've got a game to win!"
"Then you'll have to drag me kicking and screamin'! I'm not going on that field, you can't make me!" Hitomi yelled childishly.
"If that's what you want…" Emiko growled. She walked over, yanking Hitomi back into the dugout and dragging her up the steps all the while, Hitomi was whining and kicking.
"I didn't think she'd actually do it." Ihara commented. Ryusaki shrugged, he wouldn't put it past Emiko.
The silvernette dropped her best friend on the third base, "Your job is very important, princess." Emiko explained, "If the ball comes to you, you catch it, okay? Then, you've gotta tag 'em quickly. I'm counting on you, okay?"
Emiko left Hitomi sitting at the base. Hitomi stood up, dusting off her uniform. Emiko's counting on me… I better not mess this up.
"Yeah, you better not." Reborn said, Hitomi squeaked, once again surprised by his appearance. "Look at her, she doubts herself. Shaking, even." Reborn pointed a chubby finger at Emiko. She took the pitcher's mound, standing there, slightly jittering.
Hitomi gulped, but didn't say anything else. Emiko took a deep breath, steadying herself as she threw the ball. A fast ball, no doubt they've seen it before. The boy smacks the ball, sending it flying across the field for their first run.
Ihara scoops it up after it hits the ground, tossing it at Hitomi who doesn't catch the ball, instead getting whacked in the face, allowing the boy to pass by. "Sawada! Chase him!" Ihara yells, pointing at him.
Hitomi runs, ball in her hand, face still throbbing. She's gaining on him, surprisingly, until she trips, dragging not only herself down, but his pants. She looks up, "Uh… baby ducks… riding… airplanes?" She questions. Laughter fills the stadium at the boy's misfortune just as Hitomi remembers to tag him; he begins waddling away, Hitomi crawling after him until she throws the ball at him, hitting him square in the back.
"Out!" The umpire shouts.
"Yeah!" Emiko thumbs-up Hitomi, giving her a friend as Hitomi runs back to her base.
"That was pretty easy…" Hitomi commented. The game continued, somehow Emiko and her small team managing to back to batting.
"O-Oh, Emiko… I don't think I can do this…" Hitomi mumbled, knees shaking as she clutched the bat in her hand.
Emiko stretched using the bat, looking over at her best friend. "Oh, Hitomi you'll be fine. Just bunt the ball if you can't do anything else."
"Yamamoto!" Tanaka called. Emiko looked up, "Umpire's called both teams to the middle of the field. All of you need to go." The two girls traded looks with the others as they left the dugout.
Near the pitcher's mound stood Umeko, a few members of her team and the umpire. "What's this about?" Emiko asked, looking around, "Are you forfeiting or something?"
"The opposite, actually." The umpire said, "Murasaki-san here has decided to cut her team's size to meet yours, and with this, we're going to have a competition."
"Wh-What? This is the final game of the year! It's supposed to be a game!" Emiko stressed, "We've got three players! Ryūsaki was knocked out with a ball to the face."
"That's too small of a team, Emiko-chan." Umeko spat, "You better find at least three more players to—!"
"Emiko! Hitomi!" Kita yelled, running onto the field, followed by Kamiko, Katsumi and Reborn. The three females were dressed in the dirty uniforms they probably took from the injured and benched players.
"Looks like we've got our three extra players. Alright, we'll do your competition, what's it about?" Emiko crossed her arms.
"In essence," Umeko began, "All of your team will bat and then all of our team will bat and whosever team catches the most balls wins."
"That's simple enough." Katsumi piped in, "I think we can manage."
"Good. Also, anything goes." Umeko smirked, "So, be prepared, Emiko-chan."
"Oh, I'm ready, Eggplant girl." Emiko replied.
"Wha—My name is Plum! Plum!" Umeko yelled.
"I don't know how to play baseball, Emiko." Kita said, sizing up the bat, "Can I use my trident to hit the ball instead?"
"You don't need to, it's really simple: hit the ball and don't stop until the whistle blows." Emiko sat down on the bench, "If you brought it, I don't see why not, she did say anything goes."
"Does that mean I can punch the ball or do I have to use a bat?" Katsumi asked, cracking her knuckles and scaring Ihara.
"No! U-Use a bat, Katsumi." Hitomi advised. Katsumi pouted, crossing her arms, but nonetheless agreed, "We don't want you to go Black-Katsumi on us and… kill someone." Hitomi tried to reason.
"Well… that makes sense!" Katsumi agreed, smiling. Ihara looked between the girls, obviously scared.
"And I'll use my sword." Kamiko affectionately patted her wooden sword.
"Now that that's settled, we only have a few more minute before they're ready to bat." Emiko said, "Alright guys do whatever you can. Catch every single ball that comes your way, but pay attention, alright? They might try something sneaky."
"Right!" Kita stood up, "Should we do… I dunno… a chant of some type?"
"I guess it couldn't hurt," Emiko shrugged, "Alright, everybody put your hands in. We'll say… um, Namimori: fight, win! On the count of three, ready? One, two three!"
"Namimori: fight, win! Aoooooaaah!" They yelled in unison, tossing their hands up. "Yay!" Kita clapped, cartwheeling towards the door, "Let's do it up, guys!"
"She's too excited…" Hitomi sweat-dropped, "We could die out there!" All she could picture was herself and the others getting hit numerous times by the baseballs.
"Some more than others…" Reborn commented. He hadn't said much, nor had Hitomi even really seen him often, so every time he popped up, she squeaked loudly. "Mess this up and I'll shoot you, okay?"
"U-Uh… okay…" Hitomi mumbled, hurrying along to catch up with the others.
"Both teams ready?" The umpire shouted. The Namimori team lined up near the batter's squares, Kamiko taking her turn first. In her hand, her trusty sword was being held as a baseball bat. She sized up Umeko, staring directly at her, as if looking into her soul.
"Kamikorosu…" Kamiko mumbled, just loud enough for her teammates to hear.
"Oooh…. She looks serious…" Kita commented. Emiko nodded, smirking.
"Yeah, Kamiko's pretty competitive that's why I wouldn't wish her wrath on anyone else… even whoever that girl is." Emiko replied. Kita nodded, looking back at Umeko. She seemed to tense up, still under the scrutiny of Kamiko's stare.
Finally, the umpire began yelling that it was the start of the competition. Umeko winded up the first pitch. "Alright, get ready, ponytails, cause I'm not goin' easy on you!" She yelled, tossing the ball with all of her strength.
Kamiko stared at it, as if her eyes would will it to slow down or stop, but it didn't and the ball continued at normal speed. Nevertheless, Kamiko hit the ball and the large onslaught of balls coming after it. In succession, she hit almost every single ball that came her way and when five minutes was up, it was counted that Kamiko hit at least fifteen of the thirty-five balls Umeko pitched and her team had only caught seven.
"Alright! They're off to a poor start, Kita you're up next!" Emiko cheered, slapping Kita on the back. Kita didn't seem to mind, picking up her trident and walking over to the batter's squares. The umpire presented Umeko with another crate of balls and the balls on the field were cleared and put into piles.
"Let's have some fu~n!" She cheered, getting into position. Umeko stared at her, then at the trident.
"…You're using… that?" Umeko yelled at her, pointing at the trident.
"Y-Yeah!" Kita yelled back, "Emiko said it was fine, so let's get to it! Throw me the ball!"
Umeko shrugged, "Alright, fine then." She wound up the ball again, not losing speed or strength as she pitched a little better than she had during Kamiko's round.
The first ball, Kita managed to slice in half with her trident and the second ball met the same fate. It was then decided by Emiko that Kita use a bat instead of her trident. Disappointed, Kita took the bat and readied herself for the onslaught of balls. Much like with Kamiko, all of the balls were fast and Kita managed to only hit two, both of which were easily caught by the other team.
"The rest is up to you…" Kita trailed, dragging herself back to the dugout, "She hit me in the stomach!" Kita continued to groan.
"Alright, Hitomi, it's your turn." Emiko pushed Hitomi toward the batter's squares. Hitomi gulped, looking from Umeko to her teammates. They were counting on her, but could she really do it?
The first ball hit her in the face. The second, straight to her stomach. The third knocked her back on her butt, and the fourth she managed to bunt. Then the barrage came. Hitomi swung the bat back and forth, her eyes closed and suddenly, she let go of the bat. It went up, high in the air and came crashing down on her head, then a ball hit her in the face. She danced around, dazed before falling back onto the ground. The crowd groaned, watching Hitomi.
"Oooh… ouch…" Emiko winced as she and Katsumi dragged a dazed Hitomi away from the field.
"Well…" Katsumi said once she and Emiko were back on the field, "She managed to hit a little more than half of the balls and not one of them were caught."
"That's because they were bunted or they hit someone in the face." Emiko pointed to the changing players, "Anyway, Ihara, it's your turn."
Ihara went up to bat. Katsumi and Emiko cheered for him as Umeko began throwing balls at him. Half of the balls hit him and the other half; he only managed to hit a quarter of them, which weren't caught.
"Alright, princess." Emiko said, watching Ihara drag himself off of the field, "We got a lot to prove, just me and you now, okay?"
"Yeah, I got you." Katsumi said, picking up a bat. Umeko had traded places with Ushio.
She stretched, heading into the outfield where he had been moments ago. Katsumi smiled, skipping over to the plate and tapping the bat against the plate. "Oh, this will be fun! I've never played baseball before, but that's okay! We're gonna have fun!"
"Yeah, sure whatever, doll." Ushio replied, waving her off, "Hey, how about we make a deal, huh, doll? A pretty, delicate-lookin' girl like you should be goin' out with a strong guy like me, shouldn't she? I'd sure like to take care of a flower like you."
"What did you say?" Katsumi asked, her eye twitching, "D-Delicate… flower?"
"Oh boy…" Emiko shook her head, crossing her arms and smirking, "I wouldn't have done that if I were you." Katsumi glared at him, and as if by magic, her hair became wilder, taking on a dark undertone of gray, her eyes becoming narrowed and her face taking on an evil look, "Meet Black-Katsumi, she's going to kick your ass."
Ushio gulped, but didn't back down, he wound up the first ball, tossing it to Katsumi rather harshly. But Katsumi didn't flinch; instead she hit the ball straight at him, hitting him square in the face and knocking him back.
"Not so delicate now, huh, asswipe? C'mon, get back up so I can kick your ass summore! C'mon!" Katsumi yelled at him. Ushio didn't respond, "C'mon, asswipe!" Ushio tried to run, but Katsumi wasn't having that. Forgetting about the bat, Katsumi ran towards him, grabbing him by the back of his collar and yanking him towards her.
Needless to say, the guards were called and even they couldn't tear Katsumi away from Ushio. It wasn't until Ryohei came down, prying his daughter off of Ushio and taking her kicking and screaming up to the box that Ushio was finally rushed off to the hospital.
Umeko sighed, walking back up to the pitcher's mound, "And this is the extent of everything goes, huh? You take your insane friend and have her beat up my captain?" Umeko accused. Emiko raised her hands in defense.
"Hey, I didn't tell him to call her the d-word or tell him to ask her out. He did that himself." Emiko said, pointing at her off-handedly, "Maybe next time you should tell your teammates to think with their brains and not with their dicks."
Emiko stretched, grabbing a bat and spitting out her gum. She walked over to the plates, tapping her bat against it and breathing in deeply. "Alright, my turn now."
"And I won't be going easy on you either, Emiko-chan." Umeko said with a smirk. She seemingly glowed a blackish color.
"Fine, by all means," Emiko said, her face hardening, "I won't either." The silvernette seemed to glow a dark reddish color, and the stare down began. The umpire shouted once more, signaling the time to start and Umeko threw the ball. All was quiet; the crowd could practically feel the tension between the two.
The only sound that could be heard was the whizzing of the ball through the air and the crack of the ball against the bat as Emiko hit it perfectly, sending it soaring into the crowd. Confused and angry, Umeko began lobbing the balls at Emiko, using various speed to try and catch her off guard and every single time, Emiko would hit the ball, sending it soaring into the crowd. Cheers arose from the crowd as many of them tried to catch the balls.
Umeko reached for another ball, only to find no more in the crate. She screamed, kicking it over. "We managed to hit more balls than you guys caught." Emiko said, smirking. Now it's our turn on the field."
Now on the field, Emiko had the small group spread out. She would cover the area inside the diamond, Ihara would linger just outside, and Katsumi, who had recovered, would play far-right field, Kamiko center and Hitomi far-left. Near each of them was a bucket, except for Emiko. Instead, she had a bucket and a large crate of balls.
Up to bat first was some kid Emiko didn't know. He nodded, as did Emiko, signaling both were ready. Hitomi gulped looking around. Kita seemed to be having a ton of fun just standing there, looking around while Kamiko, Katsumi and Ihara looked determined to keep their minds on the game.
Emiko picked up a ball, feeling the size. She ran her thumb over the stiches before gripping it forcefully. The whistle blew and Emiko pitched. The first ball, he hit straight back to her. Emiko caught it effortlessly, tossing it into her bucket. A cheer came from Kita as Emiko wound up another ball, tossing it at him. For the next five minutes, a series of catches and misses occurred between Emiko's team.
"How many did you catch?" Katsumi asked anyone who would listen.
"Five." Ihara mumbled, dropping them into then bin.
"Two!" Kita cheered, doing the same.
"Six." Kamiko said.
"And I caught three and Emiko caught four. That's… twenty. Hitomi didn't catch any, apparently…" Katsumi looked over to Hitomi who was still standing in her spot, looking at all the balls she didn't catch.
"She could use a little help, maybe?" Kita suggested, "Maybe she'll get shot!" Kamiko smacked her, jerking her head in Ihara's direction, "Oh! Um… by the catching bug!" Kita continued, "To… uh… catch… better…yeah!"
Kamiko smacked her own forehead, returning to her position. The others did the same as Emiko began winding up for a pitch. "This is taking much too long…" Reborn commented to Ryohei. The two were currently in the dugout, Ryohei still there incase Katsumi got out of hand again.
"Well, speed it up, to the limit!" Ryohei cheered.
Reborn sighed, "I said I wouldn't interfere with the game, but…" He winced as Hitomi was once again hit with a ball. It was a wonder she could even stand up and function with how many times she'd been hit. Reborn held out his small arm, Leon climbing down it to transform into a gun, "I guess, as the tutor, I have too."
The shot rang out as Emiko was midway through the crate of balls for the other team's third player. They were going by quickly, and as such, most of them hit bunts or their balls into Hitomi's area.
Hitomi fell back and her clothes ripped off. Kita cheered, clapping loudly as Hitomi began screaming around the baseball field, catching every ball that she could. Emiko was surprised, but not enough to stop throwing the baseballs. Hitomi snatched Katsumi's bucket, tossing her own at Katsumi and catching the rest of the fourth team member's.
"Ah, that's my girl!" Kita clapped, easily handing her bucket to Hitomi just as the girl's flame disappeared. "Aw… Hitomi, I am disappoint."
"Nice undies, Hitomi. Dinosaurs, really cool." Katsumi gave her a smile.
"AH!" Hitomi yelped, running off of the field.
"They're doing better than you thought." The blond said, looking at Umeko.
"Hey, be quiet. This is within my calculations, alright?" Umeko stood up, "I'm done playing around. I'm attacking now."
"Now?!" He yelled after her, "You're crazy!"
"I'm not crazy, I'm pissed! She forgot me and I want her to remember!" Umeko said, stopping at the door, "Plus, I hate losing."
The boy sighed, watching her leave. "She's going to regret this…"
Umeko stepped out onto the field, looking out into the crowd. All of her team had gone and there were only four people on the field besides Emiko. It didn't matter; she was done playing around anyway. She crossed the field, standing at the batter's squares.
"Last one." Emiko called, "This'll be a piece of cake."
"Do you really think so, Emiko-chan?" Umeko said, "Because I've got a little something up my sleeve…"
"Well, from your attempt before, it can't be anything I can't handle." Emiko cockily replied, "Now c'mon, get ready. Get a bat or whatever."
"Oh, I won't need a bat, Emiko…" Umeko replied, her arms at her sides, as if she was going to pull something out.
"Oh? Well, okay!" Emiko threw the ball and in mid-air, bullets went right through it. The crowd screamed, some of the patrons getting up and running and others ducking for cover.
"I'm done playing games, Emiko! You don't remember me? Well I'm going to kill you!" Umeko said, cocking her guns. She ran towards Emiko, shooting as she went.
Emiko cursed, digging into the crate. She pulled out her Tonfa before she began zigzagging away from Umeko who had begun to chase her. Ihara screamed, dropping to the ground, so as not to be shot, but Kamiko, Katsumi and Kita all exchanged looks. Kamiko pulled the wooden sword from her back while Katsumi began wrapping her fists. Kita's trident materialized in front of her and the three began running towards Umeko.
"Hitomi, Emiko's in trouble." Reborn said, pointing out onto the field, "Go help her."
"W-What! That crazy lady has guns and I already got shot today!" Hitomi replied, "B-Besides… Emiko can handle herself… she's got a weapon and the others…"
"Hitomi, you're the boss." Ryohei said in a surprisingly calm voice, "You have to help her."
"B-But I don't want to be the boss!" Hitomi looked from Ryohei to Reborn then back again. Neither budged, "F-Fine!" She said, running up the steps and onto the field. Katsumi and Kamiko were trying frontal assaults, but Umeko easily stopped them, knocking the two back.
Kamiko skidded and was suddenly in a new fight with someone else. Dressed in all black, this person began swinging nunchaku at Kamiko. She easily blocked with her sword, Katsumi coming in to punch the person in the side.
Emiko blocked bullets from Umeko while trying to get closer and Kita was dealing with another person dressed in all black. Hitomi looked around, the crowd had mostly disappeared. Hitomi ran as fast as she could, trying to make her way over to Emiko and Umeko.
No people in black appeared before her and she was behind Umeko. Neither she nor anyone else had noticed Hitomi's appearance and the brunette tripped, landing into Umeko and knocking her down.
"Stupid bitch!" Umeko yelled, pointing her gun at Hitomi. Hitomi squeaked, looking at the gun. Umeko pulled the trigger, but Hitomi wasn't there.
"No, don't you fuckin' dare!" Emiko yelled, she managed to pull Hitomi out of the way and instead, got shot in the arm. She screamed, and Hitomi's eyes watered.
"A-Ah! E-Emiko!" She stuttered, "C'mon! L-Let's go! You need help!"
"I'm fine; I have to kick this girl's ass." Emiko said, "You go, you can't protect yourself out here."
"N-No!" Hitomi said, through her tears "I won't leave you here!"
"How fuckin' touching… but seriously, both of you, die." Umeko said, cocking her gun. Before she could shoot, however, someone was behind her, jabbing her in the back of the head with their elbow.
Emiko and Hitomi looked up, "D-Dad…?" Emiko stuttered.
"I wasn't going to interfere… but then you got shot." Yamamoto said, sheathing his sword, "C'mon, I'm sure if we give her money, Teru will check you out." He didn't wait for Emiko to say anything and crossed the small distance to them, picking her up.
"I can walk!" Emiko yelled, looking back at Hitomi. Hitomi looked over to the other girls, all of which were coming over to her.
"Is Emiko gonna be okay?" Kita asked first.
"I hope so…. L-Let's tie her up." Hitomi sniffled, pointing to Umeko.
"We can use my tape." Katsumi said, unraveling the tape from her hands.
Almost an hour later, the police had arrived and in the backseat of the patrol car sat Umeko, glaring at Hitomi and the others. Gokudera came over to them after he finished talking with the officer. "So… apparently this Umeko chick is some sort of escaped convict from Italy. When we get home, I'll run her name through the database, she's probably from some other family."
"I-Is Emiko okay?" Hitomi asked.
"Teru said she should be fine. Bullet didn't get too deep into her arm and she was able to get it out, but she's gotta wear a cast for a while." Gokudera replied, "Hey, it's not your fault, Hitomi. Emiko was only doing what she thought was right."
"B-But…"
"No buts Hitomi." Tsuna said, resting a hand on her shoulder, "You're a mafia boss in training. It's hard to understand now, but stuff like this is gonna happen. People are gonna put their lives on the line for you."
"B-but they shouldn't!" Hitomi said, "Emiko's in the hospital again all because of this mafia stuff! I hate this! I don't want to be a part of this if my friends are gonna end up in the hospital every week! I don't want anyone to die!"
Tears pricked her eyes, "Well then you're just going to have to get strong enough to protect them, Hm?" Tsuna said, "That's what I did." He added. Tsuna and Gokudera walked ahead of them, leaving the girls by themselves.
"Don't worry Hitomi!" Kita said, "We won't die, we can't leave you by yourself."
"Yeah, you're sort of hopeless, cuzzo." Kamiko said, "Besides, I haven't even gotten to the X-games, I'm not dying anytime soon, even if I'm in the mafia."
"Yeah! And there's tons of people I haven't beaten up yet!" Katsumi added, "We can't leave you until you're strong enough. Don't worry so much, Hitomi. Everything will get better."
"Hopefully…" Hitomi mumbled. Kita stretched.
"Ah, all of this encouraging talk is making me hungry! Let's eat!" Kita said, "I want tacos!"
"Tacos?" Kamiko replied, "What are these… tacos?"
"What?! You've never had tacos? That settles it, we're going for tacos!" Kita said, pulling Kamiko along with her, explaining tacos to her. Katsumi followed along and Hitomi still stood there, watching them.
"Hopefully…" She repeated.
"Hitomi! C'mon! I know this bitchin' taco stand near here!" Kita yelled.
"C-Coming!" Hitomi yelled, "Wait…" She looked around, "They left without us."
"More tacos for us then." Katsumi shrugged. Hitomi did the same, "We'll bring some for Emiko too."
Bonus:
"Hitomi, what do you want for dinner?" Solana asked. When she received no answer, she repeated it. "Hitomi!" She yelled, angry.
"Yeah… we sort of… left her and the girls…" Tsuna scratched the back of his head.
Solana pressed down hard on the brakes, "What?! Dammit Tsuna!"
"Idiot Tsuna." Reborn smacked Tsuna on the back of his head.
"Why me…?" Tsuna mumbled.
Well, there's the end of that chapter. I hope it wasn't too bad. My brain's literally frying itself with school coming up in a few days, or it's probably already started, depending on when this goes up. XD Anyway, I would like to thank those who reviewed. To know that people actually read this and like it enough to review, that's what keeps me going and I hope you continue to enjoy this and review even more! :D Well, there's not much else to say other than see you next time! Bye!