𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 [𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐲𝐚 𝐬.]

𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞.

"so, you want chris to catch for you." katsumi nodded. kataoka hummed, not taking his eyes off of the practice. "chris, if katsumi wants to keep this under wraps from the others, you'll have to do it after practice, and after you work with sawamura. is that okay with you?" chris smiled, nodding. kataoka nodded, looking down at katsumi without turning his head. "when you slapped that kid during the practice match... takashima said your wrists had a similar snap to that of eijun." katsumi looked over at the smirking woman.

takashima nodded, "he slapped a kid- actually, a lot of kids, when i was scouting him. his wrists had a nice snap, and i was thinking about yours compared to his. plus, your brother seems confident in your pitching potential." she chuckled.

"hey, sumi sumi!" the girl looked over, seeing kuramochi wave her over. she poked kataoka, handing him a tiny note that said 'thank you'. she ran over to the second year, who raised his leg to kick her. she whined, the boy laughing loudly. kataoka smiled slightly, staring after the girl.

"she's got a good heart, a lot of determination." takashima smiled. "she's like her brother, that way." chris nodded, watching the girl get chased around by kuramochi and get tackled.

later that day, katsumi watched chris walk off the field and smiled. she could hear eijun yelling in the distance as she walked with kuramochi to the bus. she shook her hands rapidly, and kuramochi looked down at the girl.

"hey, sumi sumi, why so hyper?" she looked up at him, then realized what she was doing. she immediately stopped, reaching into her pocket to pull out her fidget cube. kuramochi watched in silence as she started pushing the buttons, before it hit him. "ah, sorry, katsumi." she hummed, shaking her head and smiling. she offered the boy the cube, and he shook his head with a smile.

"oi!" jun ran over, chopping the two on the head. "you better be ready, katsumi! your first real game!" katsumi puffed her cheeks out, nodding. kuramochi let out a hyena-like laugh, kicking the girl's butt.

"hey, careful with my baby sister." kazuya chided from behind. "can't hurt her too bad before her first game."

"what if we just rough her up a little?" ryosuke smirked, and katsumi sweat dropped, writing on her notepad.

you talk awful tough for someone so short, ryo-senpai.

kuramochi laughed, and a dark aura appeared around the kominato. "you wanna say that again, katsumi-chan?" the girl was already running up the bus stairs, kuramochi and ryosuke not far behind her.

"get her!" kuramochi cackled.

"smite her!" ryosuke smiled evilly.

˚* ੈ✩‧₊

katsumi watched the game from the dugout, humming in discontent. seidou was losing to yokohama kouhoku institute, 2-6. "first half of the eighth inning, seidou pitcher and left field change." katsumi perked up. "the substitute for tanba is... pitcher furuya! and the substitute for sakai is... left fielder miyuki!"

katsumi gasped happily, grabbing her mitt and running into the field, passing a calm furuya on her way out. furuya gasped when the girl ran past him, watching her sprint to left field and sweat dropping. masuko smiled and kuramochi laugehd at the girl as she sped past them, getting into position.

"furuya satoru and miyuki katsumi? hey, these kids are just first years! and a girl, too!"

"to play two first years in such an important match..."

"is seidou throwing in the towel?"

"they're really underestimating us!" the coach from yokohama grinned. "to actually send a first year to the mound, and sending a girl to the outfield... let's give those two a taste of the harshness of high school's baseball!"