𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 [𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐲𝐚 𝐬.]

𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞.

"yes, sir!"

katsumi bounced on the balls of her feet as furuya winded up his pitch. he threw the ball, and the yokohama batter swung with a grin. the ball hit kazuya's mitt with a loud 'bam', and everyone sat in silent shock. furuya continued to throw hard pitches, and katsumi internally groaned.

'i just wanna catch hits...' she watched as another batter was struck out. the crowd roared, yelling for furuya to strike out a sixth batter. furuya did not disappoint, striking out his sixth consecutive batter from yokohama. katsumi smiled, jogging towards her team

"haha! this brat really did it!" kuramochi yelled. "nice pitch!" ryosuke punched the first year in the stomach. katsumi clapped softly, gaining furuya's attention. she smiled and held her thumb up, and he smiled ever so slightly.

"ah? katsumi made furuya smile!" ryosuke teased, and the mentioned boy immediately replaced the small smile with his normal straight face. katsumi chuckled, following her teammates to the dugout.

"let's turn this game!" yuki exclaimed, the others nodding.

˚* ੈ✩‧₊

katsumi watched from a distance as chris left practice. he turned his head, eyes meeting hers, and she nodded slightly. she stood, making sure no one would see her, before she started following chris. he looked down at her with a smile as they walked to the furthest bullpen from the other practice, and katsumi smiled.

"so, what kind of pitches do you throw?" chris asked the girl. she wrote in her notepad, handing it to the boy.

nothing, yet. kazuya wants me to try pitching because i used to pitch balls to him after school.

chris nodded, looking back up at the girl. he explained the basic pitching form, and the girl nodded with furrowed eyebrows. "if it helps at all, just pretend you're playing with your brother at home."

she nodded and chris walked back, crouching with his mitt out. she took a deep breath, lifting her leg and bringing her arm down, the ball flying off of her fingertips. chris smirked, the ball landing in his mitt with a loud 'smack'.

"heh, no wonder your brother told takashima you had potential." katsumi watched him as he stood, gently throwing the ball back. she hummed, looking down at the ball in her hand. "come on, don't start hesitating now."

she looked up, nodding with a soft 'hm'. she continued pitching to the third year, each one leaving a tingling in her fingers, leaving her wanting more. 'is this... why eijun is so driven to be on the mound?' she held her mitt up as chris threw the ball back. 'this feeling... is amazing.' she tensed up as footsteps sounded behind her.

"ah, coach told me i would find you here, sumi." she relaxed at her brother's voice. "how's she doing, chris?"

chris smiled, "she's a natural. i think if she keeps at it, she'll be at kawakami's level. we just need to find what pitches suit her." katsumi smiled, looking up at her brother. chris smiled, standing. "i believe we'll have to stop there for today, i must get going." katsumi waved to the boy, kazuya bidding him a 'goodbye'.

"always knew you had a good arm," he threw an arm around her, but she just looked up at him. "what?"

'you're angry.' she signed. he sighed, looking ahead as they walked.

"sawamura is just a dumbass who doesn't know what he's talking about." he muttered, and katsumi nodded.

'he has a lot of heart though.' she smiled. 'it's admirable.' kazuya chuckled.

"yeah, yeah.. i guess you're right... now c'mere!" he wrapped an arm around her neck, giving her a noogie. she squealed, grabbing his arm and attempting to break free. "kya ha ha! bow down to your superior!"