Starting Again
Warnings: extreme ooc. fem!Eijun.
Disclaimer: I dont own DnA.
here's chappie two! hope you enjoy!
italics- flashbacks or thoughts.
CHAPTER 2
"I can't wait until till lunch." Miyuki Kazuya chuckled.
Today was the first day of a new year. Some students were looking forward to their new classes, whilst others were revved up for a new tough season of baseball. But no one would have thought that Miyuki Kazuya would be looking forward to the coming of new students.
"Hey, Miyuki!" Kuramochi said, smacking the catcher on the shoulder. He took his seat in front of Miyuki and tried to stare straight through him. The silence continued for a few minutes. "So?"
"What do you mean so?"
"So means so." Kuramochi waved his finger at Miyuki. "Why are you so happy this morning? You've been grinning the entire time."
"Do you want to know?" Miyuki grinned, clearly enjoying himself. It was already an almost annoyingly definite fact to Kuramochi that when he put on such a scheming expression, the answer could not be any good.
"Ye-"
"Not telling" Miyuki teased.
'You bastard…..'
Class 1-C
"Okay, next person please introduce yourself and what club you plan on joining."
A petite girl stood up and introduced herself meekly, "Um! I'm Yoshikawa Haruno and I plan on joining the baseball club as a m-manager!"
"Good on you!" The teacher complimented, "I'm sure the baseball team will appreciate the support."
The girl made a faint smile, and then blushed "…ah…thanks…" She was embarrassed it seemed.
"Okay, next."
"Ahh…Hello everyone. I'm Sawamura Eijun. Even though my name sounds like a guys, I'm a girl." She gave everyone a small bow. "Um…I'm not sure what club I'll join yet but probably anything but the baseball club will do. Nice to meet you." she said and sat down promptly.
"…." There was silence in the air.
"I see Sawamura...I hope you find a club you would like to join soon..." the teacher's voice waned but he returned to business, straightened his back, and coughed once. "Next person please!"
While everyone shifted their focus back to the remaining introductions, a blonde student turned around to gaze curiously at Sawamura. He was supposed to be a bit annoyed that one of his classmates didn't understand the wonders of baseball, but upon feeling a sort of melancholic, somber vibe about her, he couldn't help but wonder what sort of person she was.
Ding dong.
To the surprise of many, the lazy Miyuki who would never do anything but laugh unnecessarily at others during lunch break, suddenly bolted from the class room.
"What is wrong with him today…." Kuramochi muttered. He was wondering whether or not he should follow his eccentric friend, until…
"Hey, hey Kuramochi!"
…he was called over by his classmate.
"Tsk. Yeah?"
"Takashima-sensei is calling for you."
Kuramochi widened his eyes for an instant 'How rare. I wonder what she wants.'
"Oi! Is there a girl named Sawamura Eijun in your class?"
"Okay, thanks!"
"Do you know a girl named Sawamura Eijun?"
Miyuki Kazuya ran and intruded upon the freshman classes one by one, even asking random students he ran past about a certain girl's whereabouts. But so far, no luck.
"…Phew" Miyuki puffed. "How low of an existence does she have now. To think she used to be so loud that you could hear her whispering from meters away." Miyuki had run at full strength without warming up, so his heart was beating quite a bit. "But it's not good to rest in the hallway," said Miyuki, taking in the confused gazes of the students.
It was rare enough to see a second year student in the freshman area, but to see the famous catcher of Seido High School running around the freshman area was even rarer.
"Let's try that classroom then." Miyuki said, looking at the classroom for 1st year C class.
Miyuki took a deep breath and stepped into the classroom.
Of course, there were boys and girls alike who recognized him as a baseball team member and approached him. At other times, he might have leisurely started a small conversation, but not now. His eyes were restlessly searching for a certain brown-haired girl.
And before long, he found her.
She was sitting in the far corner of the room, just plainly staring outside. Miyuki took a good look at her from head to toe. Indeed, even the ugliest of caterpillars can mature into beautiful butterflies.
But first things first-
"Found. You. EI-CHAN." Miyuki shouted and showed a 'grin'.
"Found. You. EI-CHAN." A familiar voice shouted.
"Gah…." Sawamura sweat dropped. This meeting was the one thing she wanted to avoid. And judging by how he sounded, it couldn't be just a simple greeting. "Oh my god….I don't want to turn around."
Sawamura considered the idea of running straight out the door, but based on personal experience when she was younger, she could imagine the cruel fate that would be in store for her if she tried to escape without facing him.
She slowly turned around. "H-hey Kazuya. Long time no see-"
He showed a 'grin'. But it was his peculiar kind of grin that looked dead serious.
"-Bye!" she said and jumped out of the window.
"…"
"O-Oi oi oi, this is the second floor!" Miyuki said as he rushed towards the window. But as he saw the figure running away, his eye twitched. "That twerp…..escaped again…."
Bam! Miyuki slammed his hand on her table. It looked like Miyuki was seriously a bit mad now. However, his expression said otherwise.
"Ah-ah-ah, I get it! If you want to play it that way then I won't hold back either." Miyuki said with a wicked and ghastly smile. "Hey! Are any of you guys planning to join the baseball club?" He turned towards the rest of the class and asked.
"Y-yes! I am." A blonde student raised his hand.
"Try bring that monkey," Miyuki said as he pointed his thumb at the window, "to the baseball club after school. As close as you can."
"Ah! Kuramochi-kun! Over here." Assistant Coach Takashima Rei called out to the shortstop peeking into the staffroom.
"Good work Kuramochi-kun!" Takashima addressed Kuramochi as he approached. "Your play yesterday was fantastic."
"Thank you very much." He bowed his head. "By the way, what is your request?" He brought up the main topic after a breath, "You specifically called me out for this, so I should think it's for something quite important."
"That's right." Takashima nodded. "It's about the dorms, you said you had a spare bed in your room didn't you?"
Kuramochi nodded, "Yeah, is someone moving in?"
'But to call me out just for that…'
"Yeah, there is, but that person - how should I say it so it won't surprise you too much," Takashima tilted her head with a troubled mien.
"Is he troublesome?"
"Not so much troublesome, but it's that your new dorm mate is not a 'he' but rather a 'she'."
Time stopped in the noisy staffroom. At least, Kuramochi's train of thought did.
"There are some special circumstances, so we've allowed her to stay in the dorms." Takashima continued.
When Kuramochi's train of thought recovered to the level where it could be called functional, he questioned, "But the dorms are only for baseball players…you don't mean…"
"She's joining the baseball team-"
"Wha-"
"-as the manager."
"…Uh huh, I see," Kuramochi tried to answer with as calm a voice as possible.
"For now that is." Takashima smiled to herself happily.
'For now?' the shortstop thought, but didn't press further into it. There were more important issues that needed to be discussed. "When is she coming?"
"Tonight."
"Right." Kuramochi answered calmly. Compared to earlier, this wasn't much of a surprise.
"You'll be able to meet her during practice. Make sure you introduce yourself." Takashima said. "That's all, thank you for your time. I'm counting on you Kuramochi-kun."
CLASS 1-C
"Time to return to your seats! Afternoon classes are starting!"
Driven by this sudden voice, everyone returned to their respective seats, except for the girl in the far corner seat.
"Where is she," wondered the blonde student, Kanemaru. "Is she still running from Miyuki-senpai?"
The maths teacher had already finished setting up and started the lesson, "Please turn to page-"
Whoosh.
The teacher swallowed his words mid-sentence. She, covered in twigs and leaves, had entered the classroom. "I'm sorry I'm late!" She apologized quickly.
"I-it's okay, just make sure it doesn't happen again." The teacher said, "Take a seat Sawamura."
"Yes sir."
After class
"Oi! Oi! Sawamura." Kanemaru called while poking the sleepy girl on the forehead. He wasn't sure poking a girl in the face was appropriate, but it seemed like a better choice than touching her unnecessarily. He made it a rule to not involve himself with troublesome things. And this girl, was a perfect example of something troublesome.
"Hmmmm….." She grumbled in her sleep.
"Oiiiiii. Miyuki-senpai wants you to go to the baseball grounds." Kanemaru said, even though the girl hadn't woken up. "I don't get why Miyuki-senpai is involved with her. She doesn't want enter the baseball club….in fact….I think she hates it…."
"…everyone…let's…play…baseball….."
Kanemaru widened his eyes, and stared at the sleeping girl. Was this girl, with such a cherubic smile on her face talking about baseball the same girl who jumped out the window just to run away from a baseball member?
Her expression stirred interest in him. He couldn't help by be entranced.
He crouched down next to her desk to peek at her face in more detail.
"AH! Time for practice!" Sawamura suddenly said in a loud, rising voice as she woke up. "Oh wait, I don't have practice anymore." She looked solemnly outside as she scratched her head.
"Owwww." Kanemaru exclaimed as he stood up rubbing the back of his head that collided with a desk behind him when he reflexively jumped backwards. Despite the throbbing pain, he was beyond relieved by the turn of events. If Sawamura had woken up normally, she might have caught him staring at her sleeping face - which was, even to his standards, quite perverted.
Finally noticing the existence of Kanemaru, she asked, "Hmm? Who are you?"
"I'm Kanemaru. A classmate." He answered.
"Do you need something from me?"
"Um, not personally but I was told to bring you to the baseball ground."
"Hmmm…by who."
"Miyuki-senpai."
Boom.
Sawamura's expression grew unusually stern.
It seems like they weren't on particularly goods terms, Kanemaru deduced.
"Hmph. Since we're classmates, I'll give you a small bit of advice. If you don't want trouble, stay away from that two-faced guy with the nasty personality. Hanging out with him - no, just thinking about him is infuriating." Sawamaru said as she slapped the table.
Scratch that. This girl and Miyuki Kazuya seemed to be on catastrophically bad terms.
"Well, I'm feeling tired so I'm going to go home first."
"W-what? But Miyuki-senpai…."
"Ughhh." Sawamura sighed. "I'm tired of talking. Kanemaru, come here."
Kanemaru was unsure of what to do, but her gaze was so demanding he felt compelled to follow. His anxiousness was seen by Sawamura and she motioned something with her hands, saying, "Don't worry I won't bite you or anything."
After he heard that, he felt a bit relieved and walked over.
"Your palm." She said.
"Hm?"
"Hold the palm of your hand in front of your face like this."
"Okay…"
He did as she told.
Smack! She smooshed his hand into his own face.
"Wah!" he shrieked while she picked up her bag.
"Tell that idiot no!"
Baseball Field
"I'm sorry Miyuki-senpai." Kanemaru obediently lowered his head. "I couldn't get her to come with me."
Miyuki looked a bit surprised at first but the next moment he reverted back to his cunning grin.
From the perspective of the other freshmens, he must have looked like an understanding and nice senior. But the regulars and coaches knew that he was definitely not that type of respectable senior they were thinking of. When it didn't have anything to do with baseball at least.
"Don't worry don't worry!" Miyuki comforted. "I didn't think she'd follow you so obediently anyway."
'Then what was the point of asking me?' Kanemaru thought.
"Ah-ah, I was going to go find her myself just then, but Kuramochi forcibly dragged me here saying I can't skip practice. What to do now….hmmmm."
Miyuki then pondered for a while. "Hey Rei-chan! Can I quickly go find a person?" He turned around, waving at the assistant coach who was having a conversation with the managers.
"No." She answered immediately. "Go put on your guards already." Magnificently rejecting him.
The assistant coach was particularly concerned about the catcher, purposely stopping her conversation just to instruct him. Even though he hardly skipped practice, Takashima Rei was quite worried about his nonchalant attitude every now and then.
"Tsk." Miyuki grumbled.
"What? She's not here yet?" The assistant coach, Takashima Rei shouted suddenly in a loud voice that was unlike her. "We need to send someone to find her…."
"Um sorry, what was your name again?" she gestured towards a small girl to her right.
"Yes! I'm Yoshikawa Haruno!"
"Okay, Yoshikawa-san," Takashima said as she smiled kindly. "Could you please find a girl called Sawamura Eijun and bring her here immediately? Don't worry, she's definitely still at school."
"Sawamura Eijun?" Haruno repeated the name, feeling a sense of familiarity when she said it. "Ah! That gir-"
"Eh eh eh?"
The catcher interrupted her. Butting into a conversation was not a rarity for Miyuki. Usually it was just to annoy others, but for today, he had a different purpose. "What was that about Sawamura Eijun?"
"Miyuki-kun?! Hurry up and go practice!" Takashima scolded him.
"Calm down Rei-chan, just pretend I'm not here and continue on."
As the catcher showed no indication of backing down, Takashima gave up and continued on as he said. "So where were we?"
"O-oh um…you asked me to search for Sawamura-san and I just remembered that-"
"Rei-chan! Rei-chan! Please let me look for this kid!" Miyuki butted in again.
" .KI-KUN." She shot him a glare. Miyuki might have pushed her boundaries too far this time round.
"I'm sorry Rei-chan, I won't do it again." Miyuki said. But Takashima couldn't take his apology seriously when he had that grin on his face. "I'm really sorry so," he pressed his hands together, "please let me go find her."
Takashima Rei was honestly a bit taken back, 'for this kid to ask for something so earnestly, he must have his reasons.' Takashima finally seemed to have given up, and then she sighed. "Fine, I suspect there are personal reasons why you want to go find her. But if you're going to find her, do it properly okay?"
"Really? Thanks Rei-chan!" Miyuki said with a look of true joy on his face and took off.
Even though she told Kanemaru that she was just going to go home today, unless she wanted to take a 3 hour trip back to the countryside, she had no idea where she was supposed to stay while in Tokyo.
"Hmmm, what to do now" Sawamura said to herself thoughtfully. Then she looked up towards the sky, as if sighing.
"Well, first things first." Sawamura started pressing the buttons of her phone with a furious wrath.
With the phone at her ear, she tried to remember how long it had been since they'd last talked. Should she say 'hi' or would a 'how dare you trick me!' angry outburst be more justified?
He picked up immediately.
"Ohhhh! Eijun! I thought you would call soon so I kept my phone close to me! How are you?"
"Shut up grandpa!" Sawamura yelled, her grandpa's nonchalant manner spurred her into taking the latter. "How dare you trick me into going to Seido."
"Hahaha," Sawamura Eitoku laughed his granddaughter's outburst off heartily. "It's for your own good. Learn something. Get out there. Play baseball."
Sawamura cast her eyes downwards and gave a sad smile. "I'm …..not going to play baseball-"
"Well, it doesn't really matter what you think," Eitoku forcibly interrupted, "Cause in return for letting you stay at the dorms, you have to join the baseball club as the manager anyway."
"…eh…wait…what."
"Like I said, I made a deal with someone who said they'll let you live in the dorms as long as you join the baseball team."
"Wait grandpa, this is the first time I've heard of this."
"Of course it is, this is the first time I've told you."
Sawamura was in a state of confusion, still not fully comprehending the situation. But there was one thing she was sure of.
"I'm not joining the baseball club."
"…." Eitoku went silent. And then, he deliberately ignored his granddaughter and continued speaking.
"If you run away you'll be homeless so good luck."
"That stupid geezer!" Sawamura screamed. She would have loved to spend a few more hours venting out her anger on a tree trunk, but she did start to feel pity for the tree, so she reluctantly suppressed her anger. Breathing in deeply, she felt slightly better. Until…
Shuffle.
The sound of footsteps.
Although she didn't know who it was yet, her intuition told her that it was probably someone she didn't want to meet. Someone she should hide from quickly.
"But there's nowhere to run." Looking around at how empty and closed off the area she was in, she started fretting.
I'll hide. That's the only option.
Sawamura hid in the shadow of the tree.
"Hey, I know you're there." the familiar voice called out again.
"Tsk, as expected." Sawamura said and let out a heavy sigh. As expected of her intuition to be right on mark, but,
"Why must it always be this guy." She grumbled.
"You always run to an empty space behind a building when you don't know where to go. I guess that part of you hasn't changed."
"…."
"Ignoring me huh? If you're not gonna come to me, then I'm gonna come to you." Miyuki cheerfully threatened.
"-There's no helping it." Sawamura shouted loudly. She walked around the tree and showed herself to Miyuki Kazuya. "Yo." She greeted, for a lack of a better idea.
"So you've finally stopped running."
"Running?" Sawamura said, feigning ignorance. "I don't remember doing that. But I do remember avoiding you."
"Hmmm, avoiding me huh." Miyuki repeated her words, while continuing to walk closer. "….In other words, you would go to that length, to the point of jumping out of a two-story building, to prevent me from learning about your situation."
"….What are you talking about Kazuya." she jokingly replied. "You already know everything - about the injury I suffered last year, about how I quit playing baseball. Wakana was the one who tricked me and informed you about everything anyway, so isn't it obvious?"
"But you've kept quiet about why you quit baseball. Don't try blame it on your injury because you're the kind of idiot that would keep pushing yourself to play baseball until you break. Unless," Miyuki stared at her, "it was for your friends."
"…" Sawamura's legs buckled a bit. "…..how much do you know?"
"As much as Wakana told me." Miyuki walked until he was in line with Sawamura, keeping his gaze fixated on her. But she glanced downwards, avoiding eye contact with the catcher. "It would be simpler if I knew the whole story…unfortunately, all I know is from what people told me. But no one knows the true story. You've done a wonderful job of tying up loose ends."
"Why thank you." Sawamura forced herself to act the fool. "It has been a while since you last praised me."
"I wasn't praising you. But Ei-chan, some people may find hiding their past and whatnot cool, but in my opinion, it's stupid. An idiot like you shouldn't try do something unlike yourself. You're cool enough on the mound."
"…I'm not trying to be cool at all."
"I know. That's why I won't ask anything. I don't understand how you feel, or what type of burden you are trying to carry on your back. Everyone lives while carrying the burden of a stomach-full of secrets. That's why," Miyuki rested his hand on her shoulder.
"Please share the burden if it gets too heavy."
"…."
"…Kazuya…"
"And that's all I want to say, and now-" Miyuki turned around so he was standing directly behind the girl and he then, taking advantage of the girl while she was docile, wound his arm around her neck and took her into a headlock.
"-for what I came here to do." The look in Miyuki's eyes, was like those of a beast which finally cornered its prey.
Sawamura shuddered. "Um..Kazu…Miyuki-san." She pointed at his arm around her neck. "What's the meaning of this?"
"Nothing much!" He smiled at her, tightening his hold. "Just a little something to prevent our new manager from running away."
"Oi! Kazuya! Let me go you idiot! Devil!" Sawamura complained. "Just when I thought that you are kinda cool, you pull this stunt! I'm not going to become a manager!"
Miyuki ignored all her complaints and said, "But if you don't become our manager, you'll have to live in the streets and work up a sweat trying to find three meals a day. But if you do, then you'll just have to do a few chores here and there and your living necessities are provided. It's not like we're forcing you to play baseball."
"Hmmmm…" Sawamura thought deeply about it. She didn't want to admit it, but he was right. "Fine. I get it. I'll be a manager. But don't expect me to play!"
"You're not cute at all." Miyuki responded with a mocking tone. "Oh, don't try cooking okay? I don't want to end up with a stomach ache."
Sawamura snapped. "Even if I was, I wouldn't give any to you! You stupid catcher!"
"Oi, oi is that how you treat your senpai?" He pulled her head closer and noogied her brains out.
"Owowowow stop!" Sawamura said, using every ounce of her strength to try pull away. "I'll follow you! Let go!"
Miyuki flashed her that wicked smile, only tightening his hold. "No. way." he said as he proceeded towards the baseball grounds.
This guy's nasty personality from way back hasn't changed at all. Sawamura thought as she finally gave in and let herself be dragged along.
Baseball Ground
Upon arriving at the baseball grounds, Miyuki finally stopped and said, "We've arrived! Look Ei-chan, this is Seido baseball club!"
While Sawamura wasn't completely uninterested, from her position, it was rather hard to see anything.
"Hmmm? What's wrong Ei-chan? You're being quieter than usual. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine…..and more importantly, could you please let go of me now? It's hot. It's summer. It's hard to walk."
"You just gotta admit you're embarrassed." Miyuki giggled and finally let go.
"You stupid catcher….go practice already!" she growled.
"Woah, woah aren't you feisty." Mocked Miyuki as he walked away.
Sawamura watched Miyuki walk to the dugout where his catcher gear was, and then took a proper look at the Seido Baseball Club. "As expected of a prestigious baseball school, the facilities here are superb!" Sawamura commented.
"…Batting practice with machines and spare pitchers…..fielding practice with a hitting coach …practice games….." she listed. "Man, those guys back home would be jealous if they saw this." Looking around a bit more, she saw the bullpen.
"…Pitching…."
IwanttoplayIwanttopitchIwanttoplay...
Thump. Sawamura hit her chest with her fist. "Quiet down heart, you're not helping." She said with a melancholic smile.
"Hah. Soooo. What to do." Sawamura mumbled.
Now that running wasn't an option, nor was playing, all she could do was be a 'manager'. Since she wasn't up for the attention, she decided that it would be best to slip in with the other managers and remain a bystander.
And so-
With the decision to try and slip in with the managers just a few meters away, she walked there as naturally as she could. Upon feeling her body ache with a terrible feeling, she decided to look around, and there she saw Miyuki, looking right back at her.
"Oh….shit…"
The next moment, his eyes changed to moon crescents. The devil has ascended to earth. In Sawamura's eyes, she could see a black pointed tail growing from that catcher.
"AHHHHH! That new manager arrived late, but she's trying to sneak in!" He yelled.
As expected, everyones attention was directed at her. Sawamura continued to play dumb, but even still, her cold sweat and pounding heart betrayed her nonchalant expression. Sure, she was used to a certain degree of attention from her experiences on the mound as an important pillar of the team, but this attention just gave her shivers.
She looked over at Miyuki who giggling amusedly. He gave her a thumbs up, but his whole body screamed, 'just a joke.'
"A bad joke indeed. I'll definitely get him for this."
Kanemaru was in the middle of jogging when he heard Miyuki yell. At first, he didn't pay much attention because it didn't concern him, but out of curiosity, he wondered who Miyuki's next prey was. He ran closer and was dumbfounded, "Sawamura…..you did get caught...this must Miyuki-senpai's revenge from lunch…." He made a note to self to not get on the catcher's bad side.
Kuramochi was the first one to notice Miyuki coming back. He came back strangely happy, so he decided to approach him about it. Not to mention that he deserved at least a kick or two for skipping part of practice. "Miyuki! You bastard!" he called but the catcher's gaze seemed to be fixed on someone. "…..What are you doing?"
"Shhhhh, watch this…." Miyuki smirked and continued. Kuramochi looked at the person who was at the end of Miyuki's line of sight and his gut feeling told him that that was his new roommate. First impression: a pitiful being. That glint in Miyuki's eyes meant mischief.
The Coach, Kataoka Tesshin, was unbelievably strict when it came to tardiness. He would make any member face the consequences if they did arrive late. However, he never really considered whether the same rules should apply for the managers. He never had to, until now.
He froze in his place, still worrying what to do. Then the captain,Yuuki Tetsuya, said, "Coach, aren't you going to give the usual?"
"Ah yes." As he thought, since managers are also a part of the baseball team, the rules should be applied equally. Just as he was going to deliver the usual, Takashima Rei stepped forward and gave the coach a stop gesture with her hand. "I'll take care of this."
Takashima Rei emitted a dangerous aura as she walked towards the girl.
Still suffering from the attention and silence, Sawamura carelessly muttered, "I wonder if they're gonna let me off."
"Of course not."
Suddenly, a voice spoke to her from behind, and Sawamura turned around in surprise. There she stood, with a grimace resembling the doorkeeper of hell. The assistant coach was definitely not going let her off scot-free.
"Sawamura-san!" she said in a disgustingly sweet voice.
Sawamura inwardly recoiled at her heavy gaze, but she did not show that in her expression. Nevertheless, apologizing as soon as possible was never a bad thing. Hopefully it could reduce the punishment as well. "I'm sorry!"
"Do you think sorry will cut it!"
It didn't work.
Sawamura was prepared for at least a 15 minute long lecture, but the assistant coach didn't continue. She just shook her head and sighed. "Just make sure this doesn't happen again."
"Does that mean that there's no punishment?"
"Are you repenting?!" Takashima shot her body forward and flicked the girl in the forehead.
"Yes ma'am. I'm repenting."
"For what."
"Um….erm…..mmmmm." Sawamura tilted her head back and forth. It wasn't that she didn't know, it was only because there were so many she could think of, she didn't know where to start. But her lack of a prompt answer, only added fire to the fuel. "I'm sorry."
"Sawamura."
"No I am apologetic but you see….um….the thing is….." the more she talked, the more flustered she became.
"Seiza." Takashima commanded. (A/N: Seiza- Formal Japanese sitting position)
"Yes ma'am." Sawamura was quick to follow.
When Sawamura was in position, the lecture began. Sawamura sat in seiza position the entire time in silence without being allowed to talk back, sometimes having her head bopped while the assistant coach vented her anger.
Everyone just stared in awe. Their cool assistant coach, Takashima Rei, actually seemed to be having trouble dealing with a female student in a calm, collected manner. The coach himself, felt that it wasn't his right to intrude upon a 'girls talk' and left it to Takashima. But he was merciless with the guys.
"You guys are moving too slowly!You call that practice?!" the coach suddenly yelled. "Everyone! Go run 10 laps!"
"And you," the coach shot a glare at a particular catcher who was embracing his stomach and trembling with tears, "you go run 20."
"…yes sir….."
"As I was saying Sawamura-san, I know that you and Miyuki-kun are not on the best of terms but you mustn't fall for his taunts all the time. And, whilst it's true that you were forced to join the baseball…"
Sawamura would have loved to hear it to the end but while winding up in trouble was her forte, listening attentively was not. Not to mention, she was atrociously sleepy, so much that if she were to lean to one side, she would just shutdown. The lecture also seemed to be getting slightly off-track….
"….another thing you must also know is that you are girl! I heard how reckless you can be from your grandpa! Do you want to be known as the weird girl who only causes trouble?"
"First of all, there's no way that monkey still passes for a 'girl'." teased a certain catcher passing by.
Be it an anti-Miyuki teasing reflex, Sawamura stuck out her leg swiftly and watched the catcher, trip over her feet and topple into the mud clumsily. It could have been easily avoided, if only he wasn't laughing so much.
"Haha take that Kazuya!" Sawamura jumped up and said, sticking out her tongue at him. Only a realizing a few seconds later, what she had done.
In her current situation, that act was as thoughtless as jumping into a cage of hungry lions.
"Ah." And she turned her head around as slow as she could. Miyuki too, admitting that he may have chosen the wrong time and place to mock his junior, joined Sawamura in a seiza position.
Takashima Rei glared straight at the two with a gaze as murderous as that of a predator baring its teeth. The color in their faces was bleached away bit by bit.
"..ah,eh,um, t-the thing is…."
"BOTH of you, keep running till I say stop!"