Chapter 26: Baseball Idiots heart-to-heart

"…EEEHHH?!..."

"S-So, Sora was Kuramochi's fake date?!" Isashiki yelled, receiving a pointed glare from Yuuki and a chop on his head from the older Kominato because of his too loud voice.

"Yup"

The blue haired girl smirked mischievously and held up a victory sign.

"I can perfectly take care of my teammates by myself, thank you very much!"

"Mhhh… Possessive, are we?"

"Oh, Ryou-senpai… You've got no idea, really…"

The pink haired male chuckled with a meaningful glance at the blushing mess who had once been a proud shortstop.

"I think it is nice of you to help and to support your teammates, Sora", Takigawa praised with his arms crossed comfortably over his chest. "But in this particular case maybe you shouldn't have encouraged a lie"

Yuuki, the former captain of the team nodded along with his usual stern look on his face.

"Lying is never a good option"

Even Miyauchi let out his signature grunt through his nose.

"If you're a man, you gotta be honest!"

"Ugah!" Masuko let out a strange noise and everybody just assumed that he was affirming the catcher's statement.

Sora sweat dropped. Well, she got their point, but…

"Guys… aren't you taking this matter a little too seriously?! I mean, not that I don't get where you're coming from, but this is… uhm unexpected"

"Yeah, true", Kuramochi agreed, having calmed down a bit. "I thought you'd be teasing us with this and stuff. I was prepared to be made fun of like the last few days, but a lecture now…?!"

"Well, we are still your senpais", Tanba remarked matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, true. But I guess you're also right when you're saying that this is rather funny. Since no harm was done to anybody and you already seem to have noticed your own mistake, I think we can leave it at that", Sakai said, leaning back a bit in his seat.

"And make fun of you again", the older pinkette added maliciously.

"Aniki!" his younger brother scolded slightly with a worried glance at his green haired fielding partner.

"Can we get back to the point that the shrimp acted like a girlfriend for this lil' bastard over here?! Besides, he's still wearing the female attire! Go get dressed for cryin' out loud!" Isashiki chimed in again and pointed his finger accusingly at Sora who started snickering to herself.

"My, my Isashiki-senpai… Never thought I could rattle you with my appearance like that…"

The former center fielder blushed heavily, including his ears.

"I think Sora looks hella awesome though!" Sawamura suddenly spoke up and tilted his head to the side a bit as if to find the problem in her clothing.

"Aww… Thanks, Eijun"

To everybody's astonishment even Furuya nodded his head.

"It suits you"

"Whoa, Furuya-kun. It's rare for you to compliment someone so openly!" the younger Kominato wondered, causing his fellow first years to hum in agreement.

The dark haired ace just shrugged it off with his typical calm and neutral expression.

"Just telling the truth"

The blue haired girl smiled genuinely at him. He was slowly but surely getting better at expressing himself and his honest feelings and thoughts in words and somehow the blue head felt proud about it, although she never had done much to help him with it.

"So, how did it go? Your date, I mean?" Kanemaru asked, earning a sigh from his best friend by his side.

"Shinji, you're being rude!" Toujou scolded and shook his head in exasperation. "That's absolutely none of our business. And it wasn't even a real date. Sora is still a boy if you already forgot"

"Wha-…?! N-No… That's not what I wanted to… -agh!" the blonde stuttered helplessly and his teammates around him started to laugh at his flushed cheeks.

"Sora and Kuramochi were visiting the arcades today, right?" Ono questioned and tried to save the poor first year from further embarrassment. "I think there wouldn't be anything wrong with us asking how it turned out? Since you two are experienced video gamers, I suppose you've won most of the time?"

"Oh, right! I want to know about that too!" Maezono said, pumping one of his fists eagerly. "You've played against some other guys Kuramochi had met the other day, no? There's no way you two would've let them beat you, right?! You were representing Seidou and our team even in this situation after all!"

And suddenly the competitive spirit of the baseball team's members and also former members was filling the cafeteria in which they had already been waiting for Sora and Kuramochi when the two of them had returned to the compounds. Yuuki's and Furuya's fiery auras were exploding and making the guys right next to them flinch in surprise.

"Hyaha! Of course we crushed them into the concrete!" Kuramochi stated proudly and exchanged a glance and a wide grin with Sora.

"We won every single round with a big difference in points and they even paid lunch for us", the young girl added with that special glint in her cerulean eyes that sometimes caused her to look rather impish and cheeky.

"Well, that was to be expected, I assume" Shirasu said sounding utterly satisfied.

"Right, nothing less from you two" also Kawakami agreed with his best friend.

"And did you get to know their girlfriends as well?" Watanabe asked curiously, piquing the interest of everybody else in the room. "It was supposed to be a triple date, or am I missing out on something?"

"Hah!"

Kuramochi suddenly jumped from his chair with a triumphant laughter, facing his blue haired teammate confidently.

"There, see! The other guys didn't suspect anything either, so it's not such a common thing like you wanted to make me believe!"

Sora rolled her azure blue eyes and facepalmed.

"Kaz… please?!"

Miyuki smirked.

So much faith in your captain and your catcher, huh?! May as well reward it…

"Lemme take a guess, neither of them actually had a girlfriend and they didn't expect or believe Kuramochi to have one either?"

Sora just raised her eyebrows at Kuramochi meaningfully and the young shortstop ruffled his hair in annoyance.

"Ahhhh, hell! I just really can't with you two!" he complained desperately. "You texted him or somethin', right?"

"Nope…"

"Honestly Kuramochi, that wasn't so difficult to figure it out", Miyuki remarked dryly. "For someone so sharp and observant you're awfully dense sometimes"

"What the hell?! Bastard! Not that you have any room to talk!"

"Heeeh, but I assumed correctly without any help…"

Before it could escalate in attempted murder, Seidou's info scout chimed in again.

"I'm sorry, but you lost me here"

"Me too", Shirasu said.

"Me three", Kawakami added, causing the rest of their team members to agree as well.

Sora sighed and gave a detailed explanation of what had happened and how their date had turned out. Of course she let out the part with the kiss. She and Kuramochi hadn't talked about it on the short rest of the way back to their school because they had both been too shy and embarrassed, but the shortstop had refused to let go of her hand until they had entered the front gate. The blue haired girl had just wanted to speak up when the two of them had gone into the cafeteria, but almost the whole Seidou team had already been waiting for them to return to hear their report. Even the already retired third years were present. Well, their teammates had teased Kuramochi with the whole story since Miyuki had ratted him out and they wanted to keep up the good gossip.

"Na! So, that means that you already predicted it to turn out like that. Na, Sora?" Seki questioned after the team had sat in silence for a short moment.

Asou, Seki's best friend crossed his arms over his chest and grinned.

"Didn't know you had it in you to be such a dick, ya know"

"You're hanging out with Miyuki too much… Shushushu!" the bald Higasa added seriously, making Kuramochi splutter with laughter.

"Oi! More respect for your captain!" the brunette catcher complained.

"Wahaha! Nice one, Sora!" Sawamura only praised and laughed his loud, exaggerated laughter.

"Sora-kun…" the younger Kominato sighed and then glared at the young southpaw from beneath his long bangs covering his whole forehead and also his eyes. "Eijun-kun, shut up!"

"Ha-Harucchi?!"

"Then why did you go along with the whole act anyway?" Kariba, a young first year catcher with spiky hair asked.

The blue haired girl hummed, leaning back and placing her elbow on the table right behind her.

"Let's just call it punishment", she answered with a smug smirk.

Stunned silence followed her words and Sora successfully suppressed her loud laughter and remained perfectly composed on the outside while her whole team gaped at her with empty minds.

"I see", Yuuki was the first to speak up again. "So, apparently you didn't just blindly encourage Kuramochi's lie. You actually wanted him to learn a lesson, didn't you?"

"Huh?! Wait a sec… What?!" the green haired shortstop shouted in surprise. "He said he was being a sore loser again! Because I won the base running challenge the other day!"

"Ah, that!" Shirasu remembered. "I took your times for that, but it was really close"

Sora sighed and gave the former captain a pointed look.

"Yuuki-senpai, you blew my cover!"

"My apologies…"

"Gee, if he doesn't think and figures it out himself, he won't be able to learn anything from experience, so don't go telling him!"

"What the fuck?! Sora?!" Kuramochi cried. "You're younger than me! I should be the one teaching you the lessons!"

"Then don't do stupid stuff I have to clean up for you…"

"Argh… Okay, this time I deserve it…"

"Glad we agree"

"Whoa, Sora's boss!" Kanemaru marveled and she showed him a thumbs up.

"And there you were the one telling us that we're taking this too seriously…" Takigawa chuckled slightly.

"Well, Chris-senpai… Someone's still gotta tease him for me, so…"

Sora made a vague gesture with her hand towards the green haired teen.

"Ah, yes. That makes sense indeed", the older catcher replied amused.

"I volunteer", Miyuki offered raising his hand like in class.

"I'm in!" Sawamura shouted.

"Me too", the older Kominato surprisingly followed suit.

"Accepted", the young girl gave back curtly.

"Would you guys stop ganging up on me now?!" Kuramochi grumbled more than displeased as all the others began laughing together.

"Sorry, Mochi"

"It was such a nice dat-… day up until now… Don't ruin it!"

The Seidou baseball players slowly but surely began chatting amongst themselves, forming smaller groups or they were leaving the cafeteria to go and have a shower or to train some more, so no one really heard or cared about the little almost slip of the tongue of the young shortstop. As well as no one noticed Sora blushing and trying to hide it by lowering her gaze to the ground. And of course no one paid any attention to Kuramochi's lingering longing glance he shot her before he could bring himself to approach the young girl and offer her a hand to pull her up from her seat or her hesitation until Sora finally took the offer.

No one… Except for a certain brunette catcher who had his caramel eyes focused on his two interacting teammates.

Miyuki watched the green haired shortstop holding Sora's hand maybe a tad too long after he had helped her up on her feet. The blue head smiled sincerely, but also a little coyly and that was completely out of character for the usually always so sassy pitcher. Her cheeks were still a bit pinkish and also Kuramochi acted way too restless, fidgeting around like a startled chicken. At least he managed somehow not to turn bright red again, but he was still being more than obvious for their captain.

The young catcher heaved a heavy sigh and got up from his chair as well, stretching his body slowly. He put his hands in his pockets and waited until the blue haired girl waved the shortstop goodbye to go into her dorm room. Kuramochi stood and stared after her like in a daze and Miyuki rolled his eyes. Whatever had happened during their time alone, it definitely still had an impact on rationality and this wasn't good. Not that he couldn't understand, but if others from the team were to notice Kuramochi's behavior, Sora's secret could be in danger and they had promised to keep it safe.

The brunette captain walked over to the shortstop casually and threw his arm around his shoulders.

"Kuramochi… I think we needa talk…"

"Huh?!"

The green head blinked, completely taken aback, but Miyuki just smirked as always.

"In private. Now", he insisted, dragging his teammate along without even waiting for an answer.

It took a moment for Kuramochi to understand the situation, but after they had left the cafeteria together, he escaped Miyuki's grip and followed him voluntarily to the vending machine and the small bench beside it. The captain bought a black coffee and leaned against the wall, sipping his drink while the green haired boy took a seat and glanced up to the other male with a raised eyebrow.

"You are way too obvious, idiot!"

Just as usual the brown haired was not the one to mince his words and Kuramochi's eyes widened profoundly.

"Wha-…?!"

"Staring at Sora like that is like broadcasting something has happened between you two. Or that you at least have a thing for him"

"…"

Shit, had he really been that predictable? If Miyuki was going through the trouble just to inform him about it, then it had to be pretty bad.

"Not denying it, huh?!"

"No real use now…"

"True"

Kuramochi rubbed his face with his hands and sighed.

"So, what has happened?" Miyuki asked. "Or rather… How much has happened?"

"You bastard! Don't talk like tha-…!"

"Oh please, didn't know you were so sensitive. Just spill it!"

"Miyuki, I swear…"

"Did you confirm your crush now or what?"

Stubborn silence, then finally a little nod.

"I kissed him and he let me. Or maybe I just surprised him, dunno. We didn't have the chance to talk about it properly afterwards"

Miyuki exhaled and threw his empty can in a bin.

"Finally!"

"Eh?!"

"About damn time something happens if you ask me!"

Kuramochi gaped speechlessly.

"If you hadn't used your chance any time soon, I would've been the one to make a move. Always holding back isn't any fun and someone has to teach Sora what he's doing to us after all. He won't understand it otherwise. So either you tell him or you show him and you decided to rather act than talk, which I can understand perfectly since it would've been my personal preference as well, just so you know…"

"W-Wait a sec… what in the ever-loving hell are you talking about, Miyuki?!"

The captain's evil smirk let a cold shiver run down his spine.

"Well, you…"

Miyuki pointed at Kuramochi.

"…Me…"

He pointed at himself next.

"…And Sora, of course…"

The shortstop blanched, not able to move a single inch anymore.

What?! What?What?What?...

The brown haired pretty boy catcher let out an unnerved sigh about this kind of a reaction and shook his head.

"Kuramochi, think about it rationally. I know it's difficult for you at the moment, but usually you're pretty capable, right? Well, maybe not always with your head, but your instincts are quite decent I'd say"

"Even if you say that now, I don't know what you're getting at at all. What exactly do you want to tell me?"

Of course the green haired boy had noticed that his captain also harbored certain feelings for their sassy teammate and that the two of them had begun to grow closer to each other since they were forming a battery together now more often during practice, but Kuramochi hadn't been aware of the fact that Miyuki had taken it seriously enough to act upon it. They had a unique kind of friendship, but they usually never talked about relationships or romance, let alone having feelings for anyone.

"I'm telling you that one of us isn't enough to handle Sora, so we better cooperate. We are captain and vice-captain after all"

"Eh?!"

It was getting more and more ridiculous any moment now. Or was that in his head? Kuramochi recalled Sora scolding him for his weird fantasies, so the young shortstop just hoped that this time it would be his imagination only.

"Cooperate?"

"Exactly", Miyuki affirmed with total conviction. "Sora wants to fly and to be set free and I promised to make him since I'm his catcher now. He doesn't want to be restrained or someone watching out for him the whole time, which I can understand to be completely honest. But he's a troublemaker, he's reckless and he keeps everything to himself, trying to solve problems without asking for help. Plus, the dude's got some bothersome acting skills I'm not always able to see through. And I have Sawamura, Furuya and Nori to take care of as well. Not to mention, I'm the captain and a clean-up batter for our team and I have practice to complete for myself too. While I know that Sora would support me as well as you and Zono with everything else, I'm asking you specifically to help me out with our blue head, Kuramochi. Together I'm sure we'd be able to manage somehow"

"Why do I get the feeling that you mean much more than just taking care of Sora and his health?"

"'Cause I do?!" the young captain didn't hesitate to admit, much to Kuramochi's shock. "Did I stutter?"

"B-But isn't that Sora's decision to make?! I mean… Uh… Hell, Miyuki. What you're telling me, that is… is so… How do I even start?!"

"Chill, Kuramochi. We've been a trio from the very beginning, right? So, why change that now? Or do you have a problem with it? Jealous or somethin'?! I mean you're the one who kissed Sora today, right? Actually I should be the one complaining…"

The green haired shortstop couldn't help it but to gawk.

"Holy hell, you're seriously rotten to the core. Sora isn't some toy or a thing that we could casually share! Would you think before you speak! Learn some fucking tact for cryin' out loud! 'Sides, do you honestly think that Sora'd be okay with that? He'd definitely feel like cheating, right? Remember he told us he doesn't want anything not serious like friends with benefits…"

"But we're both fairly serious, no?" Miyuki gave back nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders and pushing the bridge of his glasses up his nose. "And do you think that Sora could leave one of us alone without feeling bad? Even if he started a serious thing with only one of us, the other one would be permanently around like always and if you're being honest with yourself, Kuramochi, you wouldn't be willing to give up that easily, right? It would just turn out to be a constant fight in the shadows and it would tear Sora apart, so his final decision would be to keep his distance from both of us. Do you want that?"

"Of course not!"

"Glad we agree", the catcher smirked. "So basically, it's either both of us or none of us. Anything else in between wouldn't work out, right?"

"I'm not sure about that though…" Kuramochi grumbled, trying to hide his embarrassment. "What I can tell is that you're right. Even if Sora would choose you, I wouldn't be able to give up that easily. But I do want to respect his feelings. I don't want to push something upon him he wouldn't be comfortable with"

"Then it's our job to make him comfortable with it, stupid!"

"You always make stuff like that sound so easy, you jerk! Emotions aren't something you can solve by analyzing them…"

"Yeah, but you're the instinctual, emotional one and I'm the rational, calculating one. That's why I said we should cooperate. Sora could need both since he's adaptable depending on the situation. He's crafty and cunning, but he also has a sensitive side, right? We make a good match, Kuramochi. You could at least admit I have a point"

"When hell freezes over…"

"Hahaha! Ow, my abs!"

"Besides, Miyuki…" Kuramochi added thoughtfully. "Just to make that clear, I won't date you! Trio or whatsoever…"

"You hurt me, Kuramochi", Miyuki snickered. "Denying our undying love for each other…"

"Urgh, gross…"

"Ouch!"

"Hyaha! Serves you right, perverted bastard!"

"Thank you"

"That's not a compliment! Learn a lesson already!"

"Heh… Same old answer as always, how boring!"

The young shortstop got up from his seat, putting his hands into his pockets as he locked eyes with his captain. His gaze was calm, yet very serious and fierce.

"If you ever dare to hurt Sora, I'm never gonna forgive you. Remember that with your twisted personality!"

Miyuki's caramel eyes lit up and his smirk was growing dangerous.

"Right back at you!"