"Strike three! You're out!" The umpire yelled, telling the kid up to bat that he was out.
It was the bottom of the ninth, and the Hinamizawa Fighters were down eight to six. They had one kid on first base and two outs.
"Looks like I'm up." Rika smiled as she put on a helmet and grabbed a bat.
"You got this, Rika," Irie smiled as Rika walked over to the home plate.
"Come on, Rika!" Rosa yelled as she clapped.
"I'm happy I was able to talk you into helping." Satoko smiled as she sat next to Rosa.
"I'm still getting used to this sports stuff." Rosa sighed. "But I am happy I got to help all of you."
"Just another reason for you to move here." Shion smiled, standing by Rosa.
"Yeah, yeah." Rosa facepalmed. "You know it's not as simple as me saying yes or no, right? A lot goes into moving from one place to another."
"Ball one!" The umpire yelled.
"Good job, Rika!" Rosa clapped.
"Oh, we could worry about all that later." Shion giggled. "You and Maria could move into many places here."
"And how much do all of them cost?" Rosa raised an eyebrow as she turned to look at her. "Are you even sure I can afford any of them?"
"You won't have to worry about that when we start selling your clothes." Shion smiled.
"And how do you expect that to happen?" Rosa tilted her head to the side.
"Strike one!" The umpire yelled.
"Come on, Rika!" Satoko stood up. "You got this!"
"Hit this one, Rika!" Rosa yelled as she clapped.
Rika kept staring at the pitcher as she gripped the bat tighter. She breathed as she saw the pitcher throw the ball her way again. As it moved to her, she swung and hoped for the best, and she felt the bat hit the ball off and saw it go in between the catchers in the outfield.
"Run Rika!" Irie yelled before Rika let go of the bat and ran for it.
As Rika approached first base, the catcher reached the ball and grabbed it. He turned around and threw it to second, but the catcher missed it. As it flew past them and then home plate, the other player for the Fighters ran past second towards third. He was on third before the opposing team could reach the ball, while Rika stayed on first.
"Good job, Rika!" Rosa smiled as she clapped.
"Guess that means I'm up." Satoko smiled as she grabbed a bat. "Wish me luck."
"Hold it!" Rosa walked over, getting Satoko to stop. Rosa then placed a helmet on Satoko's head and smiled as she kneeled. "You're so focused on winning that you almost forgot about that."
"Oh, like I need to worry about getting hit." Satoko grinned.
"Well, I do worry about it." Rosa placed her hand on Satoko's shoulder. "Now go knock this out for the win."
"That's what I plan on doing." Satoko smiled as she turned around and walked to home plate.
"Heck of a pep talk." Shion smiled as she stood next to Rosa.
"I guess I'm getting used to this sports thing." Rosa smiled as she stood back up.
"By the way," Shion said, tapping Rosa on the shoulder. "About selling your clothes."
"Yes?" Rosa turned to Shion.
"That actually has something to do with what Mion and I were doing yesterday." Shion smiled.
"Oh?" Rosa raised an eyebrow.
"Strike one!" The umpire yelled out.
"Dang it!" Satoko grinned her teeth as she looked at the ground.
"Come on, Satoko!" Rosa clapped. "Just focus!"
"You got this sis!" Shion yelled out.
Satoko huffed as she stared at the pitcher and gripped the bat harder. She watched him go through the motions again as he threw the ball towards her and swung as it got closer.
"Strike two!" The umpire yelled out.
"Dang it!" Satoko yelled as she hit the bat on the home plate.
Rika looked at Satoko and frowned as she saw her best friend getting mad. Unfortunately, she noticed Satoko's hand close to her neck, ready to scratch it. Knowing Satoko's condition, she was scared that it was a sign of her getting worse. She immediately turned to Irie, hoping to get his attention.
"Time!" Irie yelled out after seeing Rika's face. Rika sighed in relief as he did.
"Satoko…" Shion looked on as she frowned, knowing the same thing as Rika. She then turned to Irie. "Please make sure she's…."
Before she could continue, Rosa ran out on the field towards Satoko. Shion's eyes went wide as Irie just stood there.
"Rosa wai…!" Shion yelled before Irie placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Trust me on this," Irie said in a monotone voice.
"But she doesn't…" Shion turned to look at Irie.
"Trust me," Irie repeated in the same tone. "If I weren't sure this would be okay, I would have stopped her."
Shion and Rika looked with wide eyes as they watched Rosa run out and talk to the umpire. He nodded, and Rosa pulled Satoko aside to speak to her.
"Satoko," Rosa said as she kneeled to be at eye level. "What's wrong?"
"I missed that freaking ball again." Satoko stomped as she gripped the bat with one hand while the other went for her neck again. "I haven't hit a single ball all day, and we'll lose if I don't hit it now. I can't be useless for the team."
Satoko closed her eyes as she started to tear up. Usually, she was the best hitter on the team when she played. Today, she struck out every time she went up to bat.
"What if Nii-Nii comes back and finds out I'm worthless?" Satoko sniffled as she was about to scratch her neck. However, Rosa grabbed that hand.
"Satoko," Rosa said as she used her other hand to lift Satoko's chin. "Listen to me right now."
"Hmm?" Satoko just stared at her.
"You are not worthless to me, your big sister, or your friends." Rosa held her hand while staring into her eyes.
"But…" Satoko tried to pull away, but Rosa held on.
"The girl who looked after my daughter and ran to get me help isn't worthless, and I'll always be thankful you did that." Rosa then let go and pointed at Maria and everyone else. "And I'm going to let Maria know how important you were in making sure she was safe."
Satoko turned and saw Rena holding Maria, Mion, and Keiichi, smiling as they waved.
"You got this, Satoko!" Keiich yelled as he waved.
"Hit a home run already and win this game!" Mion yelled and waved, too.
"Hit a home run for Maria!" Rena smiled as she held Maria up, who was also smiling.
Satoko watched them and felt her free hand start to relax. She then turned back to face Rosa, who was smiling now.
"And if I ever see your brother, he'll know how important you are to all of us." Rosa patted the top of her helmet. "I'll see to it personally."
Satoko dropped the bat and hugged Rosa. Rosa jumped as she looked down at her.
"Thank you, Rosa." Satoko sniffled and hugged her tight.
Rosa smiled as she hugged her back. Once they both broke the hug, Rosa picked up the bat and stood up.
"Now hit this one and win this game." Rosa smiled as she offered the bat to Satoko.
"If I do, will you agree to move here?" Satoko looked up at her.
"Tell you what," Rosa sighed. "We'll spend the day together, just the two of us, and you can tell me all the reasons I should move here. Deal?"
"Deal!" Satoko smiled as she took the bat and went back to home plate.
Rosa nodded at the umpire before walking back to the dugout. Once she was there, the umpire motioned for the game to continue.
"Wow," Shion said, still staring at Satoko. "I'm not sure Irie or I could have done that. What was it you said to her?"
"I just told her the truth." Rosa smiled as she stared at Satoko. "You got this, Satoko!"
Satoko readied up again and took a breath. She stared at the pitcher, who went through the motions before throwing the ball toward her. She gripped the bat and swung, closing her eyes and remembering what Rosa had told her. She opened them once she heard the bat make contact with the ball.
She smiled as she saw the ball flying but frowned once she noticed the direction it was going in. Her, Rosa, and Shion's eyes were wide as it was flying straight towards Rena. Rena noticed too and covered Maria as it got closer, but thankfully, the ball hit someone who jumped in the way.
"Uhhh…" Keiichi groaned as he held his chest and fell on his side.
"Keiichi!" Rena yelled as she opened her eyes and saw he was on the ground.
"Oh, thank god." Rosa took a breath.
"Hang on, I'm coming!" Irie yelled as he ran over to check on him
He got close to him and saw Mion kneeling, trying to check Keiichi's chest. Irie gently pulled her away, and he then kneeled to check on him. Mion continued to watch as she covered her mouth with her hands. After a few seconds, Irie stood back up.
"He's okay!" Irie waved to everyone.
"That's also a home run!" The umpire yelled. "The Fighters are the winners!"
The team cheered as Satoko smiled and ran the bases. Rosa smiled again, seeing that Satoko was happy.
"What are you waiting for?" Shion smiled as she gently pushed Rosa to the team. "Irie's busy, so you're the acting head coach."
"Wait wha…?" Rosa said before a few kids dragged her out on the field. Rosa kept staring at Shion, who only giggled at her. Once she was on the field, Satoko ran up to her.
"Did you see that, Rosa!?" Satoko smiled as she jumped. "You're still going to spend the day with me now, right!?"
"Satoko, I was going to do that regardless." Rosa smiled. "But you did a great job out there. I'm so proud of you."
Satoko smiled as she jumped up and hugged Rosa. Unfortunately, Rosa was caught off guard and fell on her back.
"Dogpile the coach!" Shion yelled as she was now standing to the side.
"What!?" Rosa yelled as she tried to get up, but Rika stopped her by jumping on her.
"Dogpile, our new coach." Rika smiled. Soon, the whole team was on Rosa.
"That's the spirit!" Shion laughed.
"I swear, these kids are trying to kill me," Rosa mumbled, still smiling.