Chapter 17: Christmas with the Baseball Idiots

After a very quick bath, Sora and Sawamura split up into different directions. Since the managers were busy with decorating the cafeteria and getting the food, the cakes, the drinks and the dishes from the kitchen, Takashima and Oota were helping with the Christmas tree, Fujiwara was gone to drag the third years along and very surprisingly coach Kataoka and his co-coach Ochiai had offered to lend a hand with the electricity, the karaoke machine and the music in general, Sawamura had agreed to somehow lure the rest of the first and second string teams to the party and Sora was collecting the cookies and chocolates from the cosplay café from the kitchen to distribute them.

Since unfortunately the cafeteria wouldn't be able to provide space for more than hundred people all at once, the secret party was only for first and second string members who were considered "in the team", so the blue haired girl had pity with the non-string teammates and was putting one of the little present bags with sweets in each of their lockers in the school building to surprise them at least a tiny little bit.

When she was done, she took the rest with her back to the party to continue her gift giving there as well. She was kinda disappointed that she hadn't thought of making a Santa costume. That would've been a perfect opportunity to wear one. Sadly she wouldn't have had time or any energy left to sew something anyway, so she had to cope with sweets in little present bags which she was transporting in the small wagon from Tomo-chan.

Back in the cafeteria, Sora was the last one to arrive, of course, since she had been busy with her task. The party had already begun, everyone was assembled and having fun. The blue haired girl's face instantly lit up with a bright and genuine smile seeing her teammates so festive, even though especially the first-string members still had to endure the consequences of their hell camp.

To her big surprise, the club's president Oota was standing on a small improvisational stage and performing a song with the karaoke machine while some of the students were giddily cheering for him and the assistant coach Ochiai was wearing a colorful party hat despite looking rather grumpy altogether. Coach Kataoka and Takashima had grouped together with him, standing slightly at the side and the adults were observing their players like they would during practice. Sora sighed. Some habits wouldn't even change on Christmas it seemed.

Natsukawa and Fujiwara were presenting a really beautiful cake to the retired third years and Isashiki blushed and had to hide his joy over the fact that they had been invited to the party and even got offered their own food from the managers while his fellow soon to be graduates could at least pull themselves together to say their thanks properly.

Yoshikawa had some problems to keep a fuming Umemoto away from a cockily smirking Miyuki who had a plate with a piece of cake in his hands and Sora could only guess that his comment on the affectionately prepared cake from the manager girls hadn't been much of a praise. Sora facepalmed. Why the hell did he even bother to eat it if he didn't like sweets? He could just say something after all… Not that anybody would force him! Just his own way of appreciating the managers work, but of course they wouldn't know that with his snarky remarks. Such a tsundere!

Most of the other boys were flocking around the table with the food and the drinks and some of them were toasting with their juice. The atmosphere was truly lighthearted and comfy. The young girl was glad that her idea had been a success. She cleared her throat, still standing at the entrance with her presents.

"Gift giving time, you guys!" she cheered with a loud and happy voice, beaming at her teammates and waving them over with one hand. "Merry Christmas!"

"Soraaaa! There you are!" Sawamura shouted back with excitement in his loud and booming voice as always. "Mission completed! It's a great success! As expected of our grade skipping genius. He has the best ideas ever!"

She grinned and threw one of the little bags with cookies and chocolate at the jumping and waving southpaw who caught it with confusion in his gentle hazel eyes.

"Huh?! I get one too?!"

"Why shouldn't you?" the blue haired girl deadpanned with a raised eyebrow.

"'Cause for me it wasn't a surprise, right?"

Sora chuckled and shook her head hearing the childish logic of her brown haired friend.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they'll taste any differently, so there you go…"

"Ohhhh… I see! Makes sense!" Sawamura admitted and ripped the transparent wrapping open to taste the sweets. "Thanks, Sora!"

She continued throwing her small packages at her teammates, pulling the wagon through the cafeteria like a mailman and received grins, thumbs up and thanks as answers. For the staff members she handed the four presents to Fujiwara so that she could give them to the head coach and the other adults and she also gave Kominato two, so that he could be the one handing a gift to his older brother. The shy pinkette blushed and mumbled his thanks before he disappeared in the crowd.

When it was Furuya's turn to get his sweets from her, Sora could literally see an aura of flowers surrounding the dark haired ace, although he didn't say anything in return, making the young girl snicker to herself. Kawakami blushed equally to Kominato, receiving a pat on his shoulder from Shirasu. The calm boy, along with Watanabe, Maezono and Ono only nodded gratefully and the right fielder threw Sora a knowing glance after their little conversation in the dugout during practice since he was the only one understanding why the blue head had left the Seidou compounds so early to help Tomo-chan in the café. The blue haired girl just winked at him a little impishly. That secret sharing thing with friends wasn't all that bad, she had to admit.

Kuramochi had his arms placed around Kanemaru's and Toujou's shoulders, with his two kouhais having to bear with the shortstop's weight when Sora arrived with her little surprise delivery, causing the three boys to break out it wide grins. The blue haired girl could hear the green head offering the other two boys to play poker with cookies as betting stakes, but their answer was drowned out by the party noise in the cafeteria and the two best friends Asou Takeru and Seki Naomichi yell-singing into the karaoke machine.

When she had finally made a whole round through the cafeteria, there were only a few packages with sweets left in her cart and the blue haired girl was in search for her third year senpais and her brown haired captain who were the only ones still missing out. She found them all sticking together in the same corner of the room, excluding the older Kominato who was actually spending some time with his mini version for once.

Isashiki, Masuko, Miyauchi and Sakai were playing a card game together, while Yuuki the former captain and Tanba the former ace were helping out Fujiwara who was carrying around more plates with food for the baseball players and Miyuki seemed to be in a serious discussion with Takigawa. His caramel eyes were shining and the calm and composed upperclassman nodded his head in silent approval to what the younger catcher was telling him. Sora almost felt bad for interrupting their private little bubble.

She handed her three hard working senpais their gifts when they passed her to carry more snacks to one of the tables close to the karaoke stage and wished them a merry Christmas before placing four packages on the table of the card players quietly in order to not disturb their game. And last but not least she parked the empty cart near the entrance and approached the two chit-chatting catchers with the last sweet presents.

"Merry Christmas, captain, Chris-senpai!" she said with a sunny smile on her face, letting the transparent cookie bags dangle in front of the boys until they took them from her.

"Thank you, Sora", Takigawa replied gently, returning her smile. "Merry Christmas"

"Oi Sora!" Isashiki suddenly shouted with his loud voice and stood to point accusingly at Miyuki who blinked completely taken aback. "Isn't his ribbon the only one with a different color? Don't tell me Miyuki's getting special treatment?!"

Of course that one sentence was enough for the young catcher to raise his eyebrows at the blue haired girl with his characteristic smirk.

"Heh… Do I, Sora?"

"Seriously, Isashiki-senpai!" Sora complained, ignoring Miyuki and crossing her arms over her chest. "You just ruined my attempt to poison that guy! I actually thought I was being quite subtle about it, ya know. You completely blew my cover here!"

The group of four guys at the table broke out into laughter, or rather heavy grunts in Miyauchi's case who breathed out strongly through his nose again like a bull. Miyuki just gave her a flat look of annoyance while Takigawa's mouth twitched suspiciously. Tanba and Yuuki returning together with Fujiwara tried to mask their laughter with clearing their throats and the beautiful ex-manager was the only one giggling very openly.

"Oh Sora, you shouldn't disregard your own efforts that much", she scolded softly, but her smile and the amused sparkle in her eyes proved her wrong. "Especially when it's such a great success"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Takako-senpai, but my attempted murder just failed…"

Covering her mouth with her hand discretely the third year beauty laughed and shook her head about Sora's antics.

"Well then, glad that your party is a hit at least"

"Our party, Takako-senpai. Now you're disregarding your own and the manager's efforts, no? Couldn't have made it without your help. It was teamwork"

"You are very kindhearted, Sora. I'm grateful for how much you think about this team and your teammates. This Christmas party you organized with our help is just prove of it and we as managers are proud that we were able to participate in your planning", Fujiwara suddenly spoke very seriously and the blue haired girl could feel her face heat up. "So, be sure to rest well later, yes? Let us do the cleaning. You will need a good night's sleep for the rest of winter camp"

The other third years and Miyuki gawked at Sora and their manager dumbfoundedly as the blue head's cheeks grew pink after the praise of her upperclassman and the beautiful dark haired girl only smiled her gentle and heartwarming smile.

"Ah, but wait a sec, Takako-senpai!" Sora suddenly blurted out because her brain had started functioning again. "I can't let you girls do all the work on your own. The dishes and the equipment are heavy, you shouldn't carry them around all by yourselves… Let me-"

But Sora was cut off by Fujiwara who had put her hands on her hips rather stoically for a girl.

"No, you promised to go to bed early today as soon as the party is over! We agreed on one day of lack of sleep only during hell camp! No overworking for you, Sora. Coach told you that personally, do I really have to remind you?"

The blue haired girl shuddered.

"No… His glare was quite impressive even with his sunglasses on. I think without 'em he might as well could've burned me to ashes…"

Fujiwara crossed her arms over her chest and nodded meaningfully.

"See!"

"Still don't like it…" she grumbled. "Then at least take Eijun with you. He's a bundle of restless energy, a little extra workout won't hurt him and he's a staff member today as well. And also ask him to walk you home if it gets too late. He's the type of guy who wouldn't let a girl walk around alone at night. The managers aren't staying in the dorms after all"

Beside Fujiwara Yuuki suddenly cleared his throat and looked at the third year manager and then at Sora and back.

"Would you mind filling us in?" he asked, but it sounded more like an order, much like the former captain's authority he was still holding.

"Ah, uhm, yes. The Christmas party was Sora's idea since he wasn't quite happy with the fact that there wouldn't be one because of the training camp. So, he came to us managers and asked us if we would be willing to help him organize something small for the team. Sora said the whole team and also the staff members deserved a nice Christmas event since they're always working so hard and we agreed on that. Also Sora's manager from his part-time job helped us out since Tomoko-san has a café and is good with sweets. Basically, we managers were only organizing the food, drinks, decorations and the karaoke machine and we baked the cakes for today. Takashima-san and Oota-san were kind enough to sponsor us the tree and our two coaches helped with the electricity and the music equipment, while Sora was lending a hand to his colleagues at the cosplay café who were making the cookies and the chocolates very early in the morning today. Sawamura-kun was covering up for us, helping us with some heavy stuff, carrying and picking up Sora with the huge load of sweets and he took the role of luring the first- and second-string members into the cafeteria when everything was finished", Fujiwara explained patiently. "However, Sora was only allowed to go to the café so early because he promised he would go to sleep right after the party today, so I want him to keep that promise. Although I truly appreciate his chivalry… And to be fairly honest, I also don't want to bother Sawamura-kun any further, since he does have training camp in the morning as well. This is already hard enough for the players"

"I see"

Yuuki nodded and threw Sora a glance which she couldn't quite read since the former captain's expression never revealed much.

"I want to thank you too, Sora", he finally said. "But our manager is right, you have to keep your promise. Don't worry, we will take care of the rest. You've done more than enough already. I highly appreciate that"

"Eh?!"

Isashiki nodded with a wide grin and pointed at himself with his thumb.

"Yeah, or have you forgotten that we're here too, huh?! We're gonna handle everything just fine, you'll see! Don't underestimate your senpais, chibisuke!"

Sora snorted with laughter at the new nickname.

"I haven't forgotten, I just didn't want you guys to have to handle anything today", the young girl clarified. "I wanted it to be a nice surprise for you all to enjoy, not more work for everyone in our third year. I mean, you have your studies and stuff… How lame, that kinda ruins it now, doesn't it…"

Sora rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and suddenly felt a karate chop from the side. She jolted and looked at closed eyes, pink hair and a smile like a menace.

"Kominato-senpai…"

"It's Ryousuke or Ryou", he simply corrected and sat down at Miyuki's and Takigawa's table. "And you have to learn to rely on other people or you're gonna drop dead"

"Yeah, listen to your seniors!" Isashiki agreed vehemently. "If we are kind enough to offer help, show some respect and gratitude, shrimpy! We don't have to be pampered by our underclassman"

An irk mark appeared on Kominato's forehead hearing Isashiki's reference to Sora's height since this was a sore topic for himself as well, but the blue haired girl and the others only chuckled at the center fielder's outburst.

"It's peanut, Isashiki-senpai", Sora teased with a sassy smirk, not bothered by the older boy's quips and the third years gave her a puzzled look. "If you want to make fun of me being short, the nickname my own older brother has established over the years for me is peanut"

"Your big brother calls you peanut?" Tanba questioned with a disbelieving glance at the blue head who only nodded and shrugged. "And you're okay with that? And even with other people calling you that?"

"Well, it's true. I am short", the young girl gave back matter-of-factly. "No need to get angry at facts you can't do anything about, right? Not that I'll grow taller if I'm getting pissed at every little comment…"

"That's surprisingly very mature", Miyuki remarked but Sora's raised eyebrows and her growing grin somehow showed otherwise.

"'Sides, no matter how short, I can still kick taller guy's butts and it's even more satisfying the more they underestimate me"

The older Kominato gave an approving hum and nodded his head with his own malicious smirk on his face as if he knew exactly what the blue haired girl was talking about. The other upperclassmen sweat dropped, including the young captain of the baseball team.

"And I also know that Ten-nii means it in an affectionate way, so it never really bothered me that much"

"But what about us?" Yuuki asked in his usual neutral and composed manner. "You think that Jun would also use it in an affectionate way?"

To the former captain's surprise and Isashiki's great embarrassment, Sora nodded her head and smiled one of her genuine and cute little smiles.

"Yeah, he's quite the big brother type", she stated, making the older boy blush furiously. "Actually I think all of you third years are, but that's only my personal impression"

"Oh, I agree with Sora-kun", Fujiwara added curtly only causing Isashiki's blush to worsen even more, much to his fellow student's amusement.

Yuuki gave the young girl a small, but gentle smile and patted her head.

"I understand. That's good. I'm glad you think that way"

"Me too", Takigawa agreed surprisingly. "That means it will be easier for you to rely on us in future and to leave helping the managers to us tonight"

"Chris-senpai… I've known from the beginning that you're a crafty one…" Sora deadpanned with a flat look on her face.

An amused glint appeared in Takigawa's eyes as he suppressed the twitching of his mouth.

"I'm taking that as a compliment"

"It is", the blue head assured.

"Can we get back to the point that I'm getting special treatment?" Miyuki chimed in with his well-known smartass attitude and Sora sighed exasperatedly.

That guy would be her death one day. Either him or Kuramochi or in the worst case, both of them! Honestly for a catcher the brown haired captain could be unusually stupid sometimes!

"Just taste them, Kaz. I'm pretty sure, you'll understand…" the blue haired girl gave back dryly with a roll of her azure eyes. "Or maybe not…"

She gave him a look that clearly told her captain Or do I have to reveal your little secret in front of everyone else?! But she wasn't so sure how much of her mental message the brown haired catcher was able to grasp. Not that Sora actually thought that not liking sweet stuff was something Miyuki needed to make such a fuss about by not wanting to tell anyone anyways, but oh well…

He just responded with a raised eyebrow, an interested and curious glint in his caramel eyes and opened the little package to try one of the self-made chocolates. Upon noticing the dark and rather bitter taste of the coffee flavored praline, Miyuki's head jerked up again and his gaze met Sora's in understanding. The young girl shot him a crooked grin.

"Like it?"

The young captain fought back a chuckle and hummed, seemingly unfazed. In reality he honestly wondered just how the hell Sora had been able to read him so well again. Miyuki was very cautious when it came to revealing personal stuff about himself and it almost shocked him that the blue head could figure him out more than only once, when no one else had been able to up to this point. Except Kuramochi, maybe.

"Not bad…"

"That so?"

Sora's shining cerulean glance was way too smug, but the fact that the blue head had made special sweets only for Miyuki's sake kind of made up for it great deal.

"Yes, the chocolates are very good. Thank you again, Sora", also Takigawa praised and the young girl recognized a slightly pleased aura around the older catcher.

Heh… So, Chris-senpai likes chocolate… Interesting!

"You're very welcome. I'm glad you like it"

The calm and peaceful atmosphere with occasional teasing was suddenly interrupted when Kuramochi and Sawamura decided to barge in and the young southpaw grabbed Sora by her wrist to drag her along with the two roommates.

"Hyaha! C'mon Sora, don't hide here with the third years in a corner the whole evening! Gotta have some fun!" the green haired shortstop cheered.

Sawamura saluted and then bowed slightly in front of his upperclassmen.

"Ah, Master! Leader! And the other Sirs! Good evening! Merry Christmas and thank you very much for your support!"

"Merry Christmas, Sawamura", Takigawa answered and looked at his former pupil with something very close to affection.

Sora actually wanted to smile and to watch their cute interaction with each other for a little while longer, but neither Kuramochi nor Sawamura were going to have that and the two roommates started pulling her away and back to the party, much to the young girl's dismay. She had planned to sit down and have a casual chat with Takigawa or Yuuki and Tanba to have some peace of mind for the rest of her hectic day, but her two hot headed friends successfully ruined her plans.

After they had forced her to eat cake with them, dance with them, sing more than just one song with them and play a game of cards with them and Kanemaru and Toujou, Sora used her first chance to sneak away and to hide behind Kawakami and Shirasu.

"Rescue me, Nori!" she whined and the two boys snickered at her obvious annoyance as she put one arm around Kawakami's shoulders making the poor submarine pitcher utterly flustered.

"I don't think there's much I can do for you, Sora… Especially if it's those two teaming up to keep you occupied", he half-joked, referring to the always energetic Sawamura and Kuramochi.

"Yeah, I can see that…" Shirasu and Sora both deadpanned in agreement.

As the Christmas party slowly but surely came to an end, the blue haired girl yawned and stretched her body in exhaustion. She suppressed a wince since all of her muscles were sore because of the training camp, but she refused to show weakness in front of her teammates.

When the coach finally called it a night and ordered his players to go to sleep, Sora felt a heavy arm around her shoulders and rolled her bright blue eyes.

"What now, captain?"

"Oh, nothing much…" he sang teasingly and the young girl felt a shudder going through her body. "Just making sure you keep your promise and go to bed right now"

"Yeah, yeah, I will, for God's sake!"

"Yes, I know you will. I'm actually very sure that you will, Sora", Miyuki gave back in such a sweet tone that it sounded like a threat. "'Cause I as your dutiful captain will make you. Now, there you go!"

And with that said, he kept pushing and dragging her along.